I hope you enjoy them, and send me asks in response.
As long as you are not underage, (obligatory Minors DNI), I believe we shall have great fun together.
Do try to not let a yandere take your phone.
Right now, I only have the musings for a Twisted Wonderland, but that might change in future.
Best of luck, darlings.
Masterlist
Rules Below the Cut~
PS. To all non-native English speakers, I try to consider all of my asks in my inbox. But Google Translate can make the writing sound a little clunky and bot like, especially if words are lost in translation. So if you make an ask and you used Google Translate, just tell me you did, so I know that you are a genuine person, and a bot isn't trying to use me as a content machine.
PSS. I don't write rape. The closest I'll get is maybe non-consensual kissing and maybe touching, but nothing further than that.
PSSS. I'm not sure if this was clear or I said it in a way that could have been mistaken but, feel free to use my AU in other fandoms or your own work! My one speculation is that you credit me if you want to use something I'd already written word for word. Also that you tell me because I'd love to read or see them!!!
PSSSS. This is a No AI space, I do not consent to having my work put into AI.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Can darlings be in positions of power in this au? Like could Mal still be heir to briar's valley if he was a darling? Conversely how would the yanderes react to their darling being the heir apparent to a kingdom? Yanderes with royalty make my brain go whirr after reading a book where the main character overthrew a kingdom and told the love interest that he didn't marry her to become king, but became king so he could marry her
Huh, an interesting concept to be sure. The best answer I can give is sort ofâŚ
With darlings facing druggings, kidnappings and ungodly amounts of stress and trauma pretty often, there are a lot of people that could argue that theyâre not cut out for politics. After all, someone meant to be a servant of the people canât really serve the people when they are locked in their yandereâs basement. But that doesnât mean there arenât any. There are many people who try really hard to make the lives of their fellow darlings that much easier. And plenty see nothing wrong with a darling as a political figure.
Pro-Darling Right Areas are a pretty neat 50/50. Darlings are allowed to have some seats in political positions, but not very high ones. The reasoning behind it is that some positions are too âemotionally taxingâ for darlings to have control over.Â
Some argue in favor of this restriction because darlings are already under enough stress with or without their yanderes. Others argue against it because thatâs a load of BS, with darlings already making important decisions with all that added stress.Â
In these same areas with monarchies, like the Queendom of Roses, darlings can ascend the throne but they are often heavily badgered/babysat by advisors and governors to help with what they see is âtoo hardâ for darlings to deal with alone.Â
Should they have a yandere in the picture before they ascend or that yandere arrives after, they âshareâ power with their yandere where the two either agree on how to run things together or, in cases where their opinions are spilt, they both make a stance and a vote is held by royal council to decide. To which darlings frequently lose.Â
In some cases, power is shifted over to the yandere if itâs seen as an act done in the darlingâs best interest.
As for Anti-Darling Rights Areas and Darling Protection Areas, using a pretty good example here. Leona would be able to, but Malleus wouldnât.Â
Surprisingly, Anti-Darling Rights Areas see nothing wrong with a yandere or a darling ascending the throne. Darlings are given elected positions of power if they earn it, and royal families will name darlings as heirs apparent even if they have available yanderes next in line.
Darlings arenât considered fragile in these areas like the Sunset Savannah , and are more believed to be very resilient and capable so why not let them rule?Â
Is it more difficult? Yes, especially for royals. But darlings can protect themselves more using rules about claiming, engagement rites and having the power of the monarch on their side to their advantage.Â
Opposingly, Darling Protection Areas like the Briar Valley are near Draconican (heh, pun) with how vehemently against a darling ascending the throne they are. Sole heir or otherwise. Their reasoning is similar to the Pro-Rights Areas multiplied by a thousand.Â
To them, darlings are too precious for this world so appointing them to a throne is too much work they shouldnât have to do. Theyâd prefer a darling living an idle life of comfort until they meet their yandere than actually letting them rule. Should their yandere come out of the woodwork, after the same rigorous testing through all the courting rites, that is, their yandere rules for them. And if it takes a long time for the yandere to arrive, go through courting rites and be prepared to ascend the throne thatâs what the Senate is for.Â
As for the book, you described a situation like that has happened, specifically for Jasmine.Â
The situation is a little different, but the Beggar from the Bazaar did technically do that, Aladdin did rule with her just not entirely in the way one might think.Â
Hi! This may not be a very pleasant question. What is the situation with prostitution and brothels in yandereau? Is it illegal? Is it punishable by death? Can you explain in more detail?
Thinking about it more, I might change some things.Â
Similar to real life, it would be illegal. However it would be considered to be even more of a societal taboo, especially towards yanderes because of the belief that yanderes are betraying their darlings when they seek pleasure through someone that isnât their darling.
So it would be punishable by death to yanderes that already have their darlings, but it wouldnât be for yanderes without darlings.Â
Sure, itâs a societal taboo, but to anyone who might hear about it, they could argue that the yandere was just lonely and was seeking comfort from someone else in hopes of filling the empty hole in their hearts. Whether itâs just talking or actual sex, an argument can be made for all of them that they were just lonely.Â
Itâs a lot more forgivable from a darling perspective. Itâs like how a darling cheating isnât that bad. Regardless of whether they are with or without yanderes, the darling just felt lonely and had to seek out a companion. If they have a yandere especially, then the yandere was clearly being neglectful because for a darling to go so far as to pay someone for company it proves their yandere failed them.Â
As for who the prostitutes are, Iâd say itâs a mix of yanderes and darlings but both are pretty immune from persecution. Yandere ones can be seen with sympathy because a poor yandere is trying to either make money for their future darling or take care of their future darling the only way they can. They do eye it with a lot of scrutiny though, itâs a risky position for a yandere to be in.Â
But for darlings, theyâre treated like nothing but the most unfortunate of victims. To be pushed so far as to work in that kind of industry proves that they either really need a yandere to protect them or their yandere is actively failing to protect and cherish them.Â
In some ways thatâs grounds for a darling to be removed in Pro-Darling Rights Areas. To them, no darling should have to do that for a living.Â
Do you think thereâs like a black market for darlings and yanderes to buy goods or services from?
Yep!
With it being mostly illegal for darlings to access a lot of things that yanderes can, a lot of darlings, including organised groups that work to actually protect darlings, work to get darlings anything they need. From illegal drugs and weaponry, fake IDs to sneak past regulations and services to relocate darlings and handle any bothersome yanderes; it offers darlings whatever they are prevented from getting.Â
The darling black market is run by darlings, primarily widowed darlings and those with powerful yanderes they can easily manipulate, for darlings; and itâs kept very under wraps.Â
By comparison, the yandere black market is much larger and a lot less low-key. It offers anything from hitmen to whack off any meddlesome rivals, illegal substances that can render darlings into more âdocileâ states to bounty hunters that can track down lost or runaway darlings and âreturn them homeâ.Â
With the Radiant Seven of the RSA having Alice as one of the historical figures, will there be some retcon of her managing to escape the Queen and not dying, or will she remain dead?
The more I learn about the Radiant Seven as it updates, I might end up changing some things (Iâll be saying this a lot honestly) but following the canon Disney Alice in Wonderland, I donât have to retcon anything just yet.Â
For the sake of story continuity, Aliceâs âfateâ is unclear. Similar to Jasmine and how her storyâs ending is unclear, so is Aliceâs. She is actually dead, but the recorded details of her story are âlong gone to historyâ past her making her stance against the Queen and running off.
It was like she âdisappeared into thin airâ.Â
The true reason is some royal censorship. Since the Queen of Hearts finally got her darling to âunderstandâ, she just created some âinsuranceâ to make sure the lesson stuck this time. Itâs recorded that itâs just a coincidence that Aliceâs travels synced up with what finally âbrokeâ the King of Hearts as the âchaosâ she brought with her visit provoked a âtraitorâ to flee with the king who was later executed as Alice simply vanished afterwards.
No one really knows who that âtraitorâ was since the body eventually rotted away with no way to identify the victim, so no one knew that it was actually Alice, but since the Queen wanted insurance Winston would never attempt to escape her or disobey her again, what better way to do that than by using the girl that drove him into the throes of manic obedience.Â
And thus Alice became a historical figure, solely because the Queen wanted to turn Alice into a final reminder even in the poor girlâs death. To the Mad Queen, there was no reason for her to be jealous over a headless corpse, especially the one that helped her beloved husband finally understand.
What really happened to Alice after her story ended is still a mystery to the public, but she stands as an important figure (even if she actually earned that title with a lost head.)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Darling care class is a thing, but what about yandere care? It should exist if it doesnât! Like genuinely it should. Of course it probably will be very short cause âDarLinGs ShOulD bE suBmIsiVeâ or something. Whatever.
But the ideaâs been in my head for a few days now.
A class where darlings are taught how to dominate their yandere. Or to take care of them, PROPERLY take care of them (ofc how to evade any drugs they get in your stuff, how to untie ropes while tied, etc but the main focus is for darlings to understand that yanderes are very much insane and need help, which,, well, is true to some extent. Is more of a virus i read somewhere on your blog that darlings seem to be inmune to. You can help them to some extent, not enough until someone manages to make a cure for the whole virus) they teach to gaslight yanderes into do whatever they want âOh you kidnapped me? That means you donât love me. No. You donât. You kidnapped me cause you donât trust me enough to do anything at all and that means you dont live meâ tho ofc is more detailed than that- and i feel like that example is kind of,,, silly? Cause they probably will see this as darling being silly darling or something cause yabderes kidnap as a sigh of love or.. something??? Idk. But like⌠gaslight in a way that actually works, youâd know how thatâd be cause you know how the au works cause, well, is yours jsjsjsjihska TwT
Tho ofc teachers tell darlings that not all yanderes are the same and some are more sadistic than others. You gotta match their freak in those cases- or more like,, be worse, to THEM. Theyâd like to break you? Find a way to turn the tables and YOU break them or⌠something. Idk how to explain.
Your yandere isnât that bad? You just hoped they wouldnât.. you know.. MURDER PEOPLE??? You can try and communicate it but thatâll just make them hide it which.. is kind of worse. So, just love them enough to NEVER do it again. Might as well stalk them yourself.
Basically these classes make darlings into more⌠controlling darlings, less submissive and more dominant, even id they still look submissive. Or some ARE submissive but they simply know what to do in cases where a situation goes to crap
So kind of like a yandere? Lol.
Technically, a darling equivalent of the Darling Care Class would be something like âSurviving Yanderes 101â meant to just reduce the stress a poor darling student could have in their present or future and help make sure that they donât get hurt, like âhereâs how to make kidnappings less stressfulâ or âYour yandere went overboard with the knock out pills, how to fix itâ.
But I see what youâre going for here. While the yandereverse doesnât perfectly prepare darlings for the hellscape theyâre about to go into, they would teach them how to handle the crazier and sadistic yanderes for their own safety and so the yanderes donât screw it all up and lose their darlings.Â
These classes would really only operate in the Pro-Darling Rights Areas, and even then they are not taught how to escape, just make their time they are a lot more comfortable and keeping their yanderes under control. And the best way they can do that is the useful manipulation tactics of love-bombing and gaslighting.
After all, how better to control a yandere than using their love against them? What yandere wouldnât cave after the darling they kidnapped fondly whispering faux (or real who knows) âI love yousâ fondly before expressing their heartache and disappointment in the yandere for not trusting them to walk free? What yandere wouldnât immediately untie them and apologize for being so heartless?Â
 Itâs especially effective against the clingy and overprotective yanderes who would rather hide their darlings in the tiniest hole so they may never be found again. Theyâd suddenly be as sad as kicked puppies and theyâll soon become very okay with letting their darling leave the house without them. Just for a little whileâŚ.
Of course even these techniques donât work with all yanderes. Some yanderes can resist their darling speaking to them sounding so disappointed. For others, it just doesnât work on them, and for sadistic yanderes especially itâs almost completely useless.Â
Matching a yandereâs energy is a 50/50 split of success. Especially for a sadistic yandere. On one hand, it might work and you might tame their wildness and get them to not hurt you or anyone else. But on the other hand, they might like it too muchâŚ
While a yandere would adore to defend their darling or get rid of any rivals, having a darling stalk them back would make them giddy. At that point theyâd start hinting at going off to go kill someone just so their darling could keep an eye on them all day.After all, it keeps their darling away from any other rivals with their belovedâs focus solely on them.Â
Sadistic yanderes might be inspired by their darlings attempts at breaking them, After all, many of them love the fight back, if their darling wants to put them in their place theyâll gladly let them, as they plan their sweet revenge for next time.Â
But regardless of whether it succeeds with all yanderes or nor, these lessons give the darling a fighting chance and thatâs something many darlings definitely appreciate.
I mean I can imagine which one but Iâd still like to hear your thoughts
Now originally, when I wrote the Shroud family dynamic that was before their official reveal. So because of that and I've changed my mind, this is something among others Iâm going to retcon.
Both of them are!
Both Idiaâs mom and dad are yanderes for each other. Both of them are seasoned stalkers who already had shrines, photo galleries, collections of âunspeakableâ items. The whole nine yards.Â
Mr.Shroud fell first, watched her from afar realised she was applying to work at STYX and expedited the application, only for her to break down his office door and reveal she was just as obsessed. It was all sunshine and rainbows after.Â
But if itâs a competition for who is more obsessed with the other, Mrs. Shroud wins the grand prize, sheâd go as far to put a chip in his brain so she sees all his most precious thoughts because sheâs that obsessed with him.
Is there any prejudice against yandere x yandere relationships in the yandere au? Like thereâs people who think that a relationship should be yandere x darling and that a yandere x yandere relationship is unnatural?
No, there isnât.Â
With the way that being a yandere works in the yandereverse, two yanderes can be yandere for each other. And since the only person that actually knows who their darling is the yandere, a yandereâs darling doesnât have to have the diagnosis of âdarlingâ to be their âdarlingâ.Â
Additionally because only the yandere knows who their darling is, itâs broadly accepted that whoever a yandere declares as their love interest is their âdarlingâ. So if two yanderes were to be together then people would just assume that the yanderes considered the other to be their âdarlingâ.Â
The same with how they see darling x darling relationships, they both donât have yanderes so them being romantically involved isnât an issue to anyone.Â
Thereâs not any prejudice surrounding relationships in the yandereverse, the only thing they despise relationship wise is yanderes who have their real darling, or who they perceive as their real darling, whilst having an affair. If the yandere realised they had the wrong one, theyâre meant to handle it immediately. By knowingly having an affair and cheating, especially with anotherâs darling, they've committed a grave societal taboo and broken the law.
how come the yanderes haven't slit each others throats. If the MC chooses a yandere lets say jack since he is the closest thing to a green flag. Wouldn't leona or malleus or any other student kills him as soon as they find out. It's just not emotional viable for MC it be in a relationship with any one as they will be seen as a target. Are the yanderes aware by trying to gain their attention, they are practically offering themselves up to be slaughtered. Ace and Duce are flaunting themselves as MC's favourites don't they see riddles face getting redder and redder. Both of them know they cannot fight him and yet they are the ones saying it to his face. Don't they have any sense of survival instinct. I bet it would sucks for them to die as soon as they met their darling.
I can see what you mean because without author's privilege, it makes a lot of sense they would actively be trying to kill each other.
I intend to actually cover this later on dorm-by-dorm once Savanaclaw is finished. But the real reason as to why they havenât killed each other (besides the fact that I donât want to have them do that) depends on who youâre asking about.Â
For instance, the reason Malleus wonât kill his rivals is because heâll be under the belief he wonât have to, at least not until much later. He only will reach the point of murderous intent during his overblot for a variety of currently unexplained reasons.
Similarly, Leona wonât try to off Jack because of something that will happen during Chapter 3, and trust me, the desire to kill Jack will be oriented towards someone else in the aftermath.Â
And with Riddle, heâs being more indirect for the time being is actually because heâs trying to not act/be like his mother. This was meant to be covered in a chapter I delayed, but a long story short, Riddleâs mother (whoâs a yandere) was downright wretched to Riddleâs father to the point they are legally separated thanks to the Queendomâs darling protection laws. Riddleâs resolved to not be like and is choosing to be more indirect towards ADeuce because he doesnât want to hurt MC more than he has to.
As for everyone else, Ace and Deuce, and a lot of the other first years wonât try to kill each other because of strength in numbers against the other 20+ rivals till they can find an opportunity to stab the rest of them in the back.Â
Silver and Sebek are going to take a while to reach the point of bloodthirst, because of how long it will take for MCâs relationship with them to develop to its fullest. Vil has a good reason to keep Rook around alive and will gain a reason later for Epel, even if knowing that Epel might try to kill him too.
Idia has more of a tendency to choose non-lethal options, and wonât directly kill someone. Ortho on the hand can and will, but is restrained by Idia.
And more, that I'm not revealing for spoilers sake.
This is not to say they won't ever make every attempt on each other's lives, but succeeding is another story.
So basically,,, if a darling acts like a pick me on purpose then they are safe? There has to be a way to be safe đ
Now im.. curious. How common is death of darlings because of.. suicide?
Not really.Â
Acting like a pick me doesnât really work when confronted with your actual yandere who probably thinks their darling really doesnât mind the more âout thereâ stuff being done to them. And itâs also not in your best interest to burn bridges with other darlings by acting like you love all the bad stuff.
There are some ways for darlings to be safe from yanderes but it really relies on what kind of yandere it is you're dealing with, whatever support the darling has and a whole lot of luck. Some of it beingâŚ.
Killing the yandere, if the yandere dies in the claiming process the darling isnât held accountable and gets to continue life as normal. The reason why they arenât held accountable depends on the region. Pro-Darling Rights locations believe that the darling was terrified due to the yandere having intent to âharmâ them so it would be cruel to punish them for saving themselves. Anti-Darling RIghts believe that the darling was testing their worth and the yandere failed. Darling Protection Areas believe it can be both depending on the circumstance.
The yandere being declared unworthy. If a yandere were to hurt a darling, whether itâs theirs or another's, beyond what the laws allow, the yanderes lose the chance of being allowed near them again. This only applies in Pro-Darling Rights and Darling Protection Areas, and only Pro-Darling Right areas allow for darlings to be emancipated and live on their own as Darling Protection Areas either return them to their families (as long as they are still worthy) or being sent to a darling home, where they live with other darlings like themselves.Â
Using Platonic Yanderes. Plenty of platonic yanderes are not as restrictive as romantic ones and depending on their friendship with the darling are willing to act as a âsurrogateâ yandere to protect their friend/sibling/family member. Some even go out of their way to kill the yandere because they âdidnât deserve the darlingâ, but most just go out of their way to help the darling live on their own safely.Â
And finally, some darlings go out of their way to train their bodies and minds to evade their yanderes. There are even darling boot camps that teach them how to evade their yanderes, arm themselves safely and protect themselves in all environments. Theyâre illegal only in Darling Protection areas, because a darlingâs family is expected to provide them with whatever training or protection a darling may need, but besides that, itâs allowed everywhere else due to demand from yanderes and darlings alike wanting to protect themselves and loved ones.
As for the darling suicide rate, it is surprisingly low but not for the reasons one might think. The overall rate is around under 10%, with yanderes constantly working to make it lower. Due to willing darlings who adapt and accept their situation the most easily living in the majority, reluctant and unwilling darlings are in the bottom percentile. That combined with all the âmedicationâ designed to âcalmâ a darling, therapy designed to gaslight them and medicate them further, and all the techniques to gaslight, manipulate and control them, the rate is low because theyâre constantly overwhelmed by the âsolutionsâ being pushed upon them.Â
A lot of yanderes try to make their darlings lives more enriching to prevent them from committing suicide, but a lot of them also use the stuff mentioned to keep their darlings confused and weak so they donât dare attempt to end their lives. Some yanderes donât see it as something to stop because to them their darling being done with this current plane of existence means they are too.Â
But there are a lot of darlings that are depressed to the point of being suicidal, being able to attempt and succeed is a different story.Â
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
What if in the yandereverse a Darling noticed that they had a Yandere fiending for them behind the corner and stuff then decided beat them to the kidnapping part by kidnapping the yandere
Is that acceptable???
Would the Yandere be subjected to the same legal limitations as a normally kidnapped Darling would?
Would Darling be allowed to do so?
Would a Darling be able to do Yandere Courting/behaviors to a Yandere due to not wanting to have it done to themselves? {Would this behavior get them reassigned as a Yandere even if it wasn't done out of love obsession?}
Do Yandere supply stores even allow Darlings to buy stuff? If they don't would that mean the Yandere knowledge is gatekept?
Sorry I found your au and read through the whole worldbuilding playlist, and while I don't really fancy traditional dynamics, it got me wondering
No need to apologize! Itâs a good question!
Untraditional darlings and yanderes arenât treated any differently than the regular ones, as a matter of fact a darling being more âforwardâ to their yandere is actually pretty accepted. While some yanderes might have upset to miss the romantic part of taking their darling themselves, specifically sadistic and controlling yanderes, no yandere can deny the romance of their darling wanting to beat them to the punch.Â
To them, and to the people who might hear about it, the darling is just head over heels in love with them and wanted to show it.Â
Not all darlings arenât immediately reassigned as yanderes for kidnapping though. A darling could have multiple reasons, like their yandere was taking too long and they wanted to hurry it up, maybe the darling had a better standard of living and didnât want to give up, or the darling just wanted to have some control.Â
Yanderes arenât exactly given the same protections darlings are. These protections to kidnappings are only really limited to Pro-Darling Rights Areas, but if, for example, a yandere were to be severely injured by their darling after being kidnapped, the law basically has their hands tied. To them, the darling is showing their love through blows and bloodshed as long as the yandere is alive and the yandere is expected to be fine with every wound and scar.Â
Darlings are more protected in this situation, as theyâre the ones that hold the power against their yanderes because the laws will side with them especially because theyâre the ones who appear to just want to be with their yandere in a more unconventional and âromanticâ way.
As for stores allowing darlings to buy stuff, it depends.
Pretty mundane things that can be used for kidnapping like sleeping pills, rope and hardware to break open locks and more can all be bought without issues, darlings just arenât able to access some of the more advanced stuff yanderes can get, which leaves the darlings to have to get creative and improvise.Â
YDid you hear about the new Twisted Wonderland update? Wow, the new RSA student characters are so cute! I hope to see them soon. Their Yan version
You canât even grasp the plans that were born out of seeing those two~
Once I know more about them I intend to write a better description of the type of yandere they would be. But for the time being using what Iâve already written, here it is.
But first, RSA.Â
As you may have known, Royal Sword Academy is a yandere school with a more heroic reputation. By comparison to Night Raven, they push gentler methods of courting darlings, through building trust slowly and then snapping them up once it's the time is right, or more specifically the frog in a boiling pot method. After all love takes time and should never be forced (usually), how could they force a darling into a lifetime of unhappiness just because the love they have is all consuming?
Among other yandere-only schools, RSA, second only to NBC and their self-flagellating ways, is one of the schools with the most respectful view of darlings. After all, their dorms pay homage to the Radiant Seven, where darlings outnumber the yanderes.
While some people (cough* Night Raven College* cough) might call their respectful ways performative, RSA pays those words no mind, their utmost respect will pay off when they meet their darlings one dayâŚ.
Marinafinne is one of the only two dorms at RSA that pay homage to a yandere. Once upon a time, the Mermaid Princess worked with Sea Witch to meet her Prince, sacrificing her tail, family, home and her voice all in the name of love. Her and her Princeâs story, along with the story about the Sea Witch and her Mollusk, is one of the most romantic in the entire ocean but to RSA, the Mermaid Princess is a true role-model to what must be done in the name of true love.Â
The only downside of the original story was the Sea Princess didâŚ. murder her father, but her situation was understandable and RSA does not completely reject murder as an option to secure your darling, as long as it doesnât hurt your darling directly that is.Â
Much like a certain octo-mer who idolises Sea Witch, Rielle idolises the Mermaid Princess (which makes sense because sheâs his ancestor) and her tale. Much like her heâs a bit delusional, but everyone at RSA is a little delusional. Besides, love at first sight never lies does it? Heâs also a worshipful yandere, like the Mermaid Princess, heâs ready to sacrifice everything, his family, kingdom, body and soul⌠Even his voice if it means he can have his darlingâs forever.
Be forewarned though, no sacrifice being too great means he can and will go past RSAâs teachings if he sees the need. No sacrifice being too great to Rielle means that he will stop at nothing to be a part of his darlingâs world.Â
Dunasmina is one of many dorms that pay homage to an historic darling, but what sets it apart from the others is that it pays homage to one of the Great Seven darlings, the Princess of the Sands. Inspired by her epic love story caught between two yanderes and choosing her true love, RSA likes to use the more popular interpretation of the storyâs ending, her choosing the Beggar from the Bazaar, as proof that a softer technique is what is required to woo one's darling.Â
One of the storyâs messages is that the intellect of the Princess of the Sands, and that of other darlings, was not to be ignored for they are so foolish to give their love to a yandere who makes them feel trapped. It serves as proof that darlings need to feel free to love their yandere at their own pace and it is that feeling of freedom is what darlings need to fully trust their yandere.Â
(Might change in future I donât have the best grasp of him yet) Minajael is more of a diamond in the rough compared to most of his peers at RSAÂ because he is not a delusional yandere, Instead, heâs more of a âgreen flagâ yandere, who will deceive you into thinking his love is normal and genuine (much like the misinterpreted story of the Princess of the Sands) before you realize just how clingy he is.Â
Unlike a lot of clingy yanderes, he wonât seek to isolate you completely from the world, heâll just never truly leave you alone. If he could shackle himself to you and toss away the key he would. Youâll be able to âcontinueâ your life as much as you want, travel the world as much as you want. But heâll never leave you alone. And why would he? Meeting his darling opened a whole new world for him to love and explore, and heâs never going to be apart from it.
(Might change in future I donât have the best grasp of Minajael yet)
A Wonderland of Yanderes - Masterlist
Chapter 2. Savanaclaw Part 3.
Part 2-> Part 4 (TBW)
Did anyone believe that being dragged into a SpellDrive game done for the sole purpose of beating the mages of your group up was going to go well?
Well, you kinda did⌠For like 2 minutesâŚ
Look, Ace is on the Basketball Team, Deuce on the Track Team, Cater has his clones, and to be completely fair to Grim he was the same size as the SpellDrive discus but he had his pride and too much energy to burn, so maybe you had at least some hope for them. Hell, you even cheered them on, hoping it would help a little bit.Â
It really didnât. Not even in the slightest.Â
As much as it pains you to compliment Leona after him being such an egotistical jerk, he was that good at SpellDrive. You had hoped that his cockiness would bite him in the ass but it didnât matter because he barely had to move to shoot a long shot from the opposite end of the field and score over and over. And Ruggie was so fast it was basically a massive waste of time trying to score because in the end he would swipe the discus and all their hard work would be pointless. And then Leona would score another goal and rinse and repeat.Â
To say that they lost by a landslide would be an understatement. A whooping zero goals scored and your group literally on the ground exhausted like they actually were beaten up.Â
Which would have been a little funny, considering everything seeing them lose hard after they caused you some probably irreparable trauma should be a little funny but youâd rather see the really cocky Savanaclaw dorm be taken down a peg.Â
Something that didnât happen, so you winced with every score by Leona.Â
At the very least one thing came out of it.Â
Watching this figurative massacre from the bleachers made you wonder why someone targeting the top SpellDrive players didnât go for these two. Sure, your team compared to just Ruggie and Leona was like a bunch of beginners against the pro-leagues but if they are that good, why had the mystery attackers not targeted them yet?Â
Seems oddly convenient.Â
Still thereâs no time to make good on whatever that observation means in the grand scheme of things, because your friends look like theyâre three ragged breaths away from passing out. Or dying. Whichever comes first. The other Savanaclaw goons cheer as your âteamâ gets their figurative asses kicked, as you go from hesitant cheerleader to hesitant team medic before exhaustion claims one of them.Â
You fling your off blazer to you use it to fan them, and as the brutes in the bleachers continue their cheers as you start to really pity whoever goes up against Team Savanaclaw. Especially if they turn up anything like poor Grim after one match. Your poor roommate is making noises like heâs going to cough up a lung with his panting.Â
Meanwhile, your more human friends are coming to the same conclusion as you did.Â
âNo wayâŚ. We didnât⌠score once!â Ace reasons as he huffs and puffs from flat on his back.Â
âThereâs not a single weak link in their defensive line!â Deuce thinks aloud from where heâs panting on his knees, completely winded.
âListen, Leona, sweetheartâŚâ Cater tries to reason, breathless. â Everyone knows youâre a SpellDrive legend, you know we canât compete against you.âÂ
You canât help but agree with Cater there. The only other good news that came out of this is that you considered that if two of the three fallen are athletes, maybe using whatever workout routine Leona and Ruggie had might be a good thing for potential running away plans. You should probably ask Vargas about it later-Â
Wait a damn second. Why havenât you spoken to Vargas this whole time?! Heâs NRCâs PE teacher of course he would absolutely know which students are so great at SpellDrive that theyâd be targeted and also which teams were so bad they would need to cheat. You are absolutely going to talk to him about this later.Â
At least once you get Ace, Deuce, Cater and Grim on their feet and back to their dorms to lie down that isâŚ
âCâmon guys.â You say, trying to encourage, trying to help them all back to their feet so you can flee with your tails between your legs and forget this ever happened. âYou all did your best and thatâs all that matters, let's go.âÂ
Youâre mid helping Ace stand up again when Leona opens his mouth, âWhatâs that? You givinâ up already?â prompting you to let go of Ace and sending him back to the ground in a cloud of sand simply out of pure resentment.
Youâre mid-mantra to keep yourself from completely snapping today when Ruggie continues Leonaâs deeply infuriating taunt. His laugh is like a hyena, which might be what the beast part of beastman might be for him now that you think about it, âWhereâd all that swagger go!â Youâll excuse it because your current beef is exclusively with the arrogant lion allowing all this right now.Â
As if to piss you off even further, another wave of jeers from the dumb jocks you bumped into earlier makes your eyebrow twitch from anger.Â
It is sheer willpower that you donât punch something. âNo! Enough! Stop this!â Your yell is loud enough to shut the jeering entourage of goons, so you can maybe get things back on track and away from needless violence. You step between your group and Leona and Ruggie, just trying to amend this situation so everyone can just leave and go their separate ways. âHow is this any different from just beating them up, you-?!â
âOi!â Leona calls out, but it feels that for some odd reason that he isnât referring to you. âOn your feet, herbivores. Weâre having a rematch.â Is he ignoring you? Did stepping on his tail one time scramble his brain or something? Does he just want to take out his pent up frustration on Ace, Deuce and Cater or something!? Either way, itâs just making you that much more furious.Â
âNo. You are not having a rematch so you can keep hurting them!â You argue. Whatever the reason why Leona is so deadset on beating the ever-living crap out of your friends, you donât know it but you donât intend on letting it happen. âAnd if you want a rewatch so badly then Iâm playing too!âÂ
The second you say that there are immediate objections.Â
â_______,â Ace interjects, back on his feet and pulling you out of this argument, â I donât care how much the crap is kicked out of me, Iâm not letting you get hurt!âÂ
âI genuinely donât care about getting hurt, I want to get even.â You stress, deadpan and completely serious.
âTBH, _______. The last time you tried to do this, you had your face smashed inâŚâ Caterâs usual peppiness is gone, his seriousness sending a chill down your spine as you distinctly remember that night youâd heard it last.Â
You can hear Deuce mutter something under his breath, âIf Prefect really wants to, Iâm fine with ki-âAce elbows Deuce mid-sentence, sending Deuce careening into the sand before he accidentally lets something slip like they donât want you to know about. Itâs a shame you already know what he meansâŚ
âSo maybe you leave this to us, if we have to, yeah?â Cater continues, his voice now overly cheery and saccharine. Itâs unnerving.
Still, the very last thing you want is to be seen as fragile and if you donât get a single avenue to vent your frustrations you will quite literally lose it. âIâm not as delicate as you think I am, guys.â You reassure them, though you canât tell for sure whether or not they even buy it. For all you know, theyâre going to end up hauling you off the field for your safety while taking the lashing you dragged them into. Regardless, youâre not backing down. âIf the lion wants a rematch, then Iâm playing and thatâs final.â
âOh, really?âLeona asks, accepting your challenge, tossing the SpellDrive discus at your feet as if he was giving a couple weaklings a handicap. You feel your cheeks get hotter as that smug face of his gets even more smug. Or is it some sort of interest? Your irritation is hindering your judgement, you canât tell. âProve it.âÂ
You grab the- Wait, thatâs actually really heavy. How do people throw this around like it weighs nothing? -Whatever, âOh, I will. I donât care how shit at this I am, I will take you down even if I die trying.â
At some point during your slow descent into rage and/or madness, Ruggie has stopped looking cocky from his earlier victory against some newbs and looks genuinely very interested in your sudden aggressiveness. âShyeheehee, this I gotta see!â
You wonder why but whether what Ruggie said is mocking you or not, youâre not backing down regardless. âIâll do my best to impress you.â you respond curt, ready to start this thing so you can heal your hurt pride butâŚ
But then you notice something.Â
Itâs so short that itâs a âblink and youâll miss itâ moment. But you could raise your hand to the sky and spare with full confidence that despite Ruggie siding with Leona this entire time, youâre absolutely positive that Leona glared at him right after that response. But that would be strange thereâs no way that this is happening again-
But then Leona opens his stupid mouth. âAre we going to have our little rematch herbivore, or are you going to keep chattinâ because youâre too much of a coward to go against a real predator?âÂ
WhatâŚ
What the hell did he mean by that? Actually, nevermind.
You roll up your shirt sleeves, ready to play until you draw blood, his or yours- you donât care; gripping that SpellDrive discus like youâre ready to throw through his head. In your adrenaline fueled rage, you find itâs now surprisingly light. It better not be when you throw it at- âYou want a rematch!? Iâll play against you alone if I have to but Iâll give you a fucking-â
âWhatâs goinâ on here?â
And then youâre interrupted. Again. Wonderful.
 At this point, youâre going to die from the sheer volume of anger bubbling within. Please, let something let you hit a jerk in the face with no additional bloodshed or any unfortunate consequences. Â
âOh, itâs youâŚâ Itâs Jack. Nice for him to pop up right before you throw your hat in the ring to wipe Leonaâs smug look off his face. Who cares if you failed in progess, it still would have been fucking funny. You donât understand why the seemingly lone wolf would bother with intervening when he clearly wanted nothing to do with you half an hour ago.Â
Whatever the reason heâs here, Jackâs arrival seemed to tense the mood somehow, especially since he looks very outraged at the current scene before him. âIs kicking a bunch of rookies around supposed to be fun?â
And with that like a wet blanket at a party, the smugness from Leona, the eagerness of Ruggie and your own semi-bloodlust all pretty much immediately collapse, and all are replaced with disinterest, irritation and for you, some confusion.
Hadnât Jack wanted nothing to do with you and your help just a while ago? So why speak up in an effort to âprotectâ you when thereâs nothing you have done for him?Â
Of course, there is one reason why someone would care that much about a total stranger unique to this world, but the chance of that happening to you again would have to be impossibleâŚÂ
RightâŚ? The chance of that happening a seventh timeâŚ
âWowâŚCheck out the wannabe hero of justice.â Ruggie says sarcastically, but his tone makes it less of a light hearted jab and more like an intentional mean-spirited dig. Itâs like heâs a little, though âlittleâ feels like a bit of an understatement, miffed about Jack interrupting. âStanding up for the downtrodden, how woefully admirable.â
âIâm just saying this is a disgusting spectacle and I donât wanna have to see it.â Jack argues, but for you that sounds like a pretty lamish excuse. Itâs not like the match had been quick, or quiet. If it really bothered Jack so bad seeing them beat your team so easily, why didnât he intervene or say something earlier. Why is it just when you were getting involvedâŚ.?
And now that you think about it⌠You might not be the only one to find this encounter so strange.
â...â Because Leonaâs oddly quiet. Heâs gone from cocky and smug to clear disinterest. âWell, thanks. Now you've ruined all our fun.â What is happening?
You notice it again. That same kind of animosity that you saw for a split second with Ruggie just barely veiled under disinterest just barely longer than the first time. Like deeply-restrained anger is piling on top of itself and being harder to completely restrain. It makes you think, Leona is the dorm head if he wanted to continue the game with no regard to Jack he could but weirdly heâs not doing that.Â
Sure, being called out might have been a shot to his pride, but this feels odd. Call it a hunch but this feels really similar to when you thought you saw him give Ruggie that same look just a few minutes ago. If itâs not pride being hurt, was your earlier suspicion⌠more right than you realized?Â
Your thoughts are broken by one of the dumb jocks opening their mouths. âWhoa, Jack. You DO realize who youâre talking to, right? Youâre actinâ damn high and mighty for a first year!âÂ
You donât want to have to agree with one of those headstrong losers, but he kind of is right for the situation. You barely know Jack and Jack barely knows you, why risk his reputation with his dorm over a stranger. That theory milling in your head is starting to seem like less of a theory and more of the truth.Â
But whatever Jackâs real intent for intervening is, heâs standing by it. âIf youâre gonna play the upperclassmen card, you oughta act the part.â
While the jock fumes at the disrespect, Leona âpraisesâ,âPretty bold, fresh meat. I guess I can respect that.â Though, you have a feeling that when he said respect he really meant the opposite-âAll right, Iâm bored now.â
Huh? âWait, what!? Seriously?â All that nonsense of wanting a rematch only to just let it go that fast? Now, youâre just confused.Â
âRunning up the score against you chumps ainât accomplishinâ a thing.â You severely doubt that. Like this whole song and dance didnât start because he liked doing that. âLetâs go Ruggie.âÂ
âDo we have to?â Despite his agreeing with Leona this entire time, Ruggie objects. And youâre sure itâs not from being confused.Â
Leona freezes mid-turn to leave, pausing to glare at Ruggie into compliance. Ruggie hesitates for a second, meeting your eyes for a second before answering âFine, fine. Yeesh.â
Well, that was surprisingly anti-climatic, if you ignored your working theories on the weird behaviors of the three youâd interacted with today. Eh, never look a gift horse and all that, you probably would have gotten your pride hurt at the very least.Â
No matter what your suspicion or curiosity, youâre no less grateful. âThanks, I guess, JackâŚâ
âWhatever, I didnât do it to save your asses.â You sincerely doubt that.
You hold your gaze with him for a moment, Jack doesnât look away, yâknow despite wanting ânothingâ to do with you, and neither do you for your own piece of mind, you might as well test it, just to be sure. âBe safe, Jack.â You call back, smiling gently.Â
Jack avoids your gaze, partially confirming your theory. âLike I said, youâve got no reason to be worried about me. Now get lost.âÂ
You shrug, but donât push him any further, youâre not going to call him out in front of the people that could maybe be his unknowing rivals.
âIâm drenched in mud over here!â Speaking of, Ace finishes complaining as he drapes his arm over your shoulder, ever so subtly tugging you out of reach of Jack. âLetâs just call it a day and go home.â
You shrug, scraping some of the mud and dirt from Grimâs fur, as he actively complains âYeah, Iâm getting pretty hungry over here!â seemingly recovering from his hard loss. You laugh light-heartedly. At least this over without any real consequences-
âHey, _______.â Before you could get your hopes too high, Caterâs voice breaks your thoughts. His voice is way too solemn for your liking. âI get that you really like to throw yourself in harmâs way. I get it ig, but seriously⌠Stop doing that.â
You feel your heart skip a beat in renewed panic. âS-sorry, I⌠I just got carried awayâŚâ You stammer out trying to reason, but that paltry excuse doesnât seem to work as you watch the grimace on Caterâs face darken.Â
âKayâŚâ Cater responds flatly, and you can only hope that whatever maelstrom is brewing in his head wonât impact your future. Ever.
Your hope of that being where the conversation ending dies about as fast as it came, as Ace raises his own opinion.Â
âYâknow, I know you want to âhave your own spaceâ and all that.â Ace says like itâs a weird thing for someone to want their own personal space, autonomy and privacy especially considering this worldâs standards, âI mean seriously, this is what the fifth time? It makes me wonder what you do when Iâm-...â Ace hesitates, glancing before correcting, â -When weâre not around. Maybe I should stick around moreâŚ.â His serious tone sends a chill down your spine. Maybe heâs a little right, you might be starting to tow the line too much.
You can feel that ever-present unease ferment in your stomach. Ace isnât wrong either, how many times have you ended up in a mess that either got you into a dangerous situation or into a shitty situation that almost got your butt kicked. Your first encounter with Leona, Riddleâs entire overblot and you suddenly not breathing anymore when you were unconscious for whatever reason, the multiple misadventures with the delinquents ending in either bloodshed or bruised egos that led to bloodshed⌠of course they would have noticed.Â
And why wouldnât it bother them? This world's obsession with one true love bullshit meant that your safety and health probably meant more to them than their own lives. Which when you think about Aceâs original objection earlier, makes your situation that much more dire. âHow great would it be for them to care less.â You find yourself thinking, âI get that my life to them is that fragile, but I am definitely notâŚ.â
You swallow, roughly, feeling your heart beating in the back of your throat. But maybe theyâre right too and you are that fragile. You flinch away from them sometimes, you panic when you hear them say certain things. You feel stress and fear, despair and anger so much more easily now, what if that spells your downfall too? If they see you becoming more and more troubled, will they inevitably reach the conclusion that you need to be protected from that too?
Your silence must be very telling because Deuce tries to soothe whatever evident discomfort or worries you may have, âPrefect, weâre not going to hurt you or anything like that, we just think we should spend more time with you, thatâs all.â Deuce finishes with a âcomfortingâ smile but you already have a feeling thatâs just not to âworryâ you any further.Â
Youâre not really sure about how to respond to this, because yeah, you could say that you were going to be fine and press on that till the conversation faded into awkward silence. Because you still remember what you discovered back when you first arrived, no matter how much they tried to smother your fears they were all sorted in Hearslaybul because they were all to some extent controlling. It didnât matter the speed, the desire to control you hung in the air with all the subtlety of a noose and you didnât want to provoke it that much further. But you didnât really know how to do thatâŚ
But, apparently, Grim does. â Myeh⌠Why are we still talkingâŚ.Iâm starving over here!â He whines, petulant and crabby. Normally youâd associate Grimâs usual hangry induced whining as him being hungry, bored and not at all interested in reading the room but this feels a little bit different somehow.
Ace interrupts Grimâs spiel, âWhat weâre talking about is kinda important, Grim. Canât you wait like 5 min-âÂ
But Grim doesnât, âI donât care! Iâm tired and muddy and _______ is already going to drag me somewhere else today before I get to have my tuna!â Itâs basically a tantrum but you clue together what heâs really doing, openly distracting away from the conversation by being an extraordinary nuisance. While you notice the slight dig because yes, you are going to drag him somewhere else today. You make a quick mental promise to give Grim some of the good tuna for dinner tonight as an apology.Â
âActuallyâŚâ You interject, with Grim dramatically feeding the excuse with a long groan. âI have to meet up with Vargas to talk to him about something, and if you guys remember last timeâŚâ Last time involved, Ace and Deuce coming with you to your bi-weekly training with Vargas, Vargas asking you if you actually wanted them there, you avoiding answering the question, and then the slightly-humorous slow descent into exhaustion thanks to Vargas trying as hard as possible to literally make them drop from fatigue. â...maybe you guys should get some rest instead, gotta rest before we continue investigating tomorrow.âÂ
An odd silence follows, as if this entire song and dance really did the opposite. Whatever suspicions any of them have any objections, even from Cater, whoâs been watching you this entire time with a mildly severely concerning look. As if spelling some form of disaster for your future. Eventually, your excuses will bear no weight, innate desire will take over one day or is that day sooner than you expect.Â
While some of the unease remains, you seriously need to see Vargas later today, no better way to vent all this nervousness and frustration than having him teach you how to punch it out. But still, you wish learning how to be physically tough would teach you how to be mentally tough too.
A little later in SavanaclawâŚÂ
Normally when a group of herbivores get, figuratively, mauled, the lion in charge would be in a good mood resting on their laurels. Sure, the lion received a smidge of a blow to his ego from a lone wolf, but one would assume the lion does not concern himself with the wolfâs opinion.Â
Key word being normally. Honestly, Ruggie knew better than to piss off his meal ticket but seeing that âproudâ lion pouting on his bed like a cranky cub was a pretty new experience. âI know you hate seeinâ all the lovey dovey crap more than anyone, but this is weird even for you.âÂ
In the little over a year heâd known Leona, Ruggie learnt there was only one thing that Leona Kingscholar hated as much as the Fae Lizard Prince of Diasomnia they were planning to take down, and surprisingly it was literally anyone finding and fawning over their darlings.Â
Itâs not like Ruggie didnât know why. If you were from the Sunset Savannah, you knew the reason why. Everyone from the fanciest of palaces to the poorest of slums knew, and the whole dorm, at least not the month-old fresh meat, knew not to ârelocateâ their darling if the dorm head was around. He canât really blame Leona for it either, itâs like being made to slowly starve to death while watching everyone else get to savor their fill.Â
Even so, it does not make the scene before Ruggie any less pathetic, âSeriously, if he pissed you off that badly, just drop him from our team.â
Leona doesnât respond, to which Ruggie shrugs it off. âEh, whatever, it blows that Jack and those Heartslabyul twits are so protective of _______, sheâd at least be an actual challenge to play against.â
Again, Leona doesnât say anything, though Ruggie can hear him making the growl-like sound he either makes when heâs annoyed or asleep.Â
Whichever it really is, it doesnât matter because Ruggie ignores it. âWould be nice to just get rid of themâ, It would have been amazing, wouldnât it? To see that anger you had released on the field where he could chase you and feel the full extent of your anger and raw emotion, to see more of that you instead of the you that those spoiled idiots who think that darlings are too fragile for a simple game of Spelldrive.Â
Back home, even in the slums theyâd throw rocks at each other and no one would even wince if a darling kid got hit. Albeit it took longer for them to get sorted because barely any one wanted to come there, but no one batted an eye if a darling wanted to play. Only the pricks from outside the Savannah really threw fits about that sort of thing, wanting darlings to be treated like glass.
Jack wasnât from the Sunset Savannah either, like most of the other Savanaclaw students, so he probably believed that same bullshit of them being a pile of glass instead of someone who could tear someoneâs head off if you pissed them off enough. Whatever beef _____ had with Leona aside, if Jack hadnât intervened he would have seen it. Could that be because of⌠if it was⌠Ruggie can feel his fangs itch to feel skin break underneath them, âEh, if he keeps playing with his food, heâs going to lose it-â
A vicious snarl breaks through the Ruggieâs spoken thoughts, as someone clearly got tired of being reminded of a certain someone. âOi, Ruggie.â Leona interrupts, the snarl still evident in his voice. âI donât want to hear it.â
âAlright, alright.â Ruggie relents, best not poke the sleeping lion. Anymore at least.Â
âTchâŚâ Leona scoffs, seemingly disinterested as his anger seemingly dissolves, âTalking about _____- âŚthe herbivore is a waste of time. We still have work to do.â There was one more target before they kill the king in a weekâs time. Leona didnât need one of the most crucial parts of his plan to be distracted by the shivers of first love.
Whilst being reminded that Leona would never be allowed to enjoy it himself.
âAye aye, boss.â Ruggie replies, all the better for him anyway. He can ponder the reason for your sudden presence in his thoughts while he strikes the Scarabia vice-dorm head off the hit list.Â
The hyena beastman leaves, also leaving Leona to his own turmoil. âHeh⌠How unlucky am I...â Leona laughs dryly, speaking as if the universe would answer.Â
It doesnât matter how âdifferentâ the process of realising your darling is for everyone, he knows the situation uncomfortably well, the draw of a scent unlike anything youâd ever experienced, the supernatural attraction that gnaws on instinct and sends your thoughts driven to one fine point, itâs all the same no matter how many people say itâs unique. Of fucking course, of all things to deal with, the crux of his plan to âturn the world upside downâ, not one but two of the important parts of it just so happen to have the herbivore be their darling.Â
And even worse-
Leona drags his claw-like nails over his scar, fingers itching to dig into it and claw the reminder free from his face. Itâs been years since itâs healed over and hurts more than anything no matter how much he wants to forget it. He grinds his teeth together, a growl emanating from his throat. âYou were already wrong once. Forget about it,â he grits out.
But why does this time feel so different, more right. He canât forget how endearing your anger was, and how he wanted to play against you solely because then with your anger, your attention would be solely on him.Â
But the gnawing sense of jealousy returns, fueled by resurging fury. Itâs not like it matters in the scheme of things, no matter how much he wants, no, craves, even if this time feels more right, heâll still never get to have what heâs always wanted.Â
Drip
Drip
Drip
A couple hours laterâŚ
âCome on, kid! You can do better than that!â Vargas encourages after your umpteenth strike. You nod and make a yell before throwing another punch against the target pad Vargas held.Â
Vargas had been training you in self-defense for a little under three weeks now and it was going very well. If you excluded the fatigue in your legs from an hour of struggling to keep up with Vargas for nine laps around the campus, you were taking it like a lioness to her hunt.Â
Plus, you are getting better at pulling punches now. Leona, better not cross you again.
âManâŚhaaâŚâ You pant between strikes, huffing as you pull your fists back for more, âThis isâŚgreat for gettingâŚhaaâŚyour anger outâŚâÂ
âI havenât seen this kind of energy in a while, ______!â Vargas makes a laugh, loud and hearty.âWhatâs got you so fired up?âÂ
âSome jerks from SavanaclawâŚ!â You answer before giving a sharp jab into the padding, âwho think just because theyâre carnivores⌠they get to push everyone aroundâŚ!â And three more in quick succession.Â
âHey, fix your form, kid.â You nod before making the correction, as Vargas continues talking, âA lot of them are trouble makers. Fun to chase around though.â You donât know what he means by that, âAnd good at SpellDrive.â
âSpeaking of SpellDriveâŚ!â You plant one more hit and pause. âIâve been meaning to ask. Youâre the schoolâs coach so⌠have you noticed any players getting hurt? Or suddenly not showing up because of an injury?â
Vargas pauses in thought for a second, âNot really, there hasnât been much practice with the inter-drom tournament in a few days.â Pensive thought shifts to playful intrigue, as he asks, âAnd since when do you care about SpellDrive? Itâs not like you can play?â
âJ..Just curious?â You try, laughing nervously.
Vargas doesnât believe you thought, âReally, _______? You can trust your Uncle Vargas. Whatâs got you so interested?â His tone suddenly becomes serious. âIs it a boy?âÂ
âNO! No! I, uhâŚâ You quickly deny, feeling your cheeks flush, no way could that be it at least not now⌠âCrowley has me investigating some âaccidentsâ the students on the SpellDrive team rosters have been having. The injuries are bad enough we think someone might be trying to rig the game in their favor.â
âOh, is that it? Why didnât you just say so?â A good question actually, but unimportant. Regardless, Vargas seems to believe you. He continues, his tone still warm and light-hearted, âBut seriously, if someone does tell me and Iâll have them cut.â
Automatically you ask, âLiterally or figuratively?â
âUnless you really want to know, kid. Iâll never tell.â Vargas explains, before laughing as it was a joke. Maybe it was but knowing this world, he might not be. Right now thatâs not important. Plus, you might need to cash in on that one day so best not say anything.Â
âSo could you tell me about some of the teams?â You say to steer this conversation back on topic, âSo I can get an idea on any potential targets?â
âEh, why not. If Crowleyâs not going to do his job, I might as well help you do yours.â Vargas shrugs, âBack to your training, kid. And any dorm you have in mind?â
You resume your stance, briefly imagining Leonaâs punchable face on the target. An idea hits you, âHow about Savanaclaw? I saw them play today. And they seem pretty good.âÂ
âI donât think you have to worry about them, ______. Theyâve been the first out of the game for the past two years.â Wait, what!?
âWhat?!â You baulk, surprised. You were no expert but that seemed bizarre, from what you saw earlier⌠â Isnât that weird though? Theyâre the athletic dorm arenât they, itâs a little weird they arenât even in the top 3âŚâÂ
âIt is weird.â Vargas agrees, âMost of the schoolâs team is from Savanaclaw, hell, Kingscholarâs the captain. But since Draconia joined two years ago they havenât scored even one goal.âÂ
âOâŚkayâŚâ Honestly, if you heard or knew about that earlier, you probably would have done the very mean thing of rubbing it in. But that now seemed surprising. For them to be out in the first round, it would probably make them the furthest thing from competition.Â
Ironically, it makes more sense for them to beâŚ. âWhat about the other dorms? What can you tell me about the dorm that Draconia guy is from?âÂ
Vargas obliges, â If I could get more of them on the SpellDrive team I would, maybe with one of them on NRCâs team we can finally beat RSA. Winning without even using magic isn't an easy feat yâknow.â
âReallyâŚâ You mutter, before returning to your punches, occasionally asking about each dorm between blows. Knowing what you did now, it made a little more sense that the students youâd bumped into earlier were so weird about keeping to themselves. If they were trying to make sure they won this time, that itself explains that but if it wasnâtâŚ.
Savanaclaw would be more likely to want to cheat if theyâve lost that badly twice. And would be more likely to target a dorm like Diasomnia if they could win that easilyâŚ
Your thoughts are interrupted by the skin on your knuckles splitting open from a particularly hard strike. You hiss, pulling your hand back to find rubbed-raw skin on split knuckles.Â
âYou okay, kid?âÂ
âIâm fine,â you answer, gently rubbing your knuckles, â Nothing a bandaid wonât fix..â
âNope. Iâm taking you to the nurse.â Vargas announces. And isnât that a little much? You have half a boxful in Ramshackle thatâd do the job, even if you found a ton of dust-bunnies with it.Â
âI-Isnât that a little much?â
âNo. Why?âÂ
Because at best it is a drop or two of blood, itâs not like youâre actually dying of blood loss here. Maybe itâs something youâre just not getting. Like that protective stuff from earlier. âBecause you donât have to-â
âLetâs get you patched up.â You technically could do it yourself, but whatâs the harm of Vargas handling it. Itâs the size of a small coin at best, nothing to actually worry about. What could possibly go wrong from this ordeal.Â
You press your finger hard against the exposed skin, before muttering to yourself, âLetâs not say those things, Me, weâll come to regret itâŚâ
â...Well, Iâm not technically regretting it, Grim, all I did was forget something and the worst thing that came of that is having to walk back here.â You argue for the umpteenth time.Â
âMeh henchman⌠Weâve been runninâ around all day and now we hadta walk all the way backâŚâ Grim whines from his limp noodle state on your shoulder, still sore from the SpellDrive match from earlier. âMy everything still hurts, henchmannnnnn."Â
âToo much to not sneak into the cafeteria to score some leftovers?â Your suggestion makes Grim perk up like he got hit with a second wind.Â
âWhy didnâtya say that earlier henchman?! Câmon, Letâs get a move on!â You laugh fondly at him scampering back to the nurseâs office.Â
As for how you got here, well, youâre not regretting saying those cursed words just yet. Your minor injuries were patched up by Vargas, even though you could handled it just fine by yourself, but thatâs probably not important and because of how close it was to nightfall, he walked you back to Ramshackle and that was supposed to be the end of that.
Until you realized you forgot your blazer at the nurseâs office and had to walk all the way back. Whoops.Â
Itâs not like you could leave it there. It didnât matter if it was a tad sweaty or not, you didnât need a certain hunter finding it and doing unholy things to it. For fear of the horrors it would encounter if that happened, and the fact that you only have so many clothes, you had to go back while the sun was still setting and night hadnât just fallen yet.Â
Of course you âsort ofâ dragged Grim along for the ride but hey, it was just a grab and go with a snack run promised afterward, so if the curse of those words was going to strike you down they hadnât completely screwed you over just yet.Â
âAh⌠There it is.â You say, grabbing your blazer with no issue. This is all going stunningly well. âAlright, letâs see if the cafeteria ghosts have anything to give us.âÂ
âYeah! Free food-â Before Grim finish his celebratory cheer, the nurses office door opens with a loud *BAM*. You can hear a quieter âMeh⌠this always happensâŚâ before your attention is completely taken by the new guy.
Who is⌠is bleedingâŚfrom his right armâŚ.. âOh fuck.â
âMyahh!?!â Grimâs shriek of shock just compliments the now-roaring sound of blood in your ears from adrenaline.Â
âAre you okay!?â Dumb question, youâll admit, since the guyâs blood is actively decorating the tile. But whoeverâs out there should cut you some slack, this is still pretty new to you. Even if it is kind of your fault this is even happening. You and your stupid big fat mouth.
âItâs nothing, donât worry about it.â He answers nonchalantly like he wasnât bleeding through the brand-new emergency exit in his arm. Motioning to his arm, he continues,âThis doesnât involve you,â before pulling a first-aid kit out of one of the cabinets.Â
âO-Ok, sure, but you look like you need a hospital. O-Or a doctor!âÂ
âIâm fine.â His tone sounded more annoyed at you for your concern and panic than being concerned for his own freaking arm wound. You didnât even know how anyone could be so calm and non-chalant about something that runs the length of his forearm if the giant bloodstain on his sleeve is anything to go off and hell only knows how deep.
âYouâre clearly not!â You push, still shocked that how calm he is over this, âSeriously how are you not worried-â
âThis isnât the first time this has happened and the more you keep disturbing me, the longer I wonât be able to take care of it.â The hell does that mean- Nevermind. âYou donât need to care about this, itâs nothing you need to worry about.â
You canât understand how someone can be so a-okay with refusing help when he looks like he clearly needs it but screw that.Â
Youâre not a doctor, but you can tell that everything is not fine as much as this guy wants to say it is. Watching him open the first aid kit, you can see his left uninjured hand shake slightly as he takes things out of it. Call it an educated guess, but something tells you that isnât his dominant hand and that combined with blood loss could be a dangerous combination.Â
âI donât think you can take care of it,â You object again, now feeling very stubborn if it means this total stranger is okay. âLook, Iâm no professional but I can see your hands are shaking and I donât want you to hurt yourself trying to fix it.â You advance, tentatively reaching out to his injured arm, â Please, let me help you.â
For a split-second thereâs a hint of contemplation before he curtly says, as if getting more annoyed by your attempts of aid. âNo.âI know you think that youâre being helpful but youâre not-âÂ
âIâm not taking no for an answer.â You cut him off holding your ground, your hand moving to grip his injured one hoping you held with enough pressure to stop the bleeding that much more. He hisses in response, but you donât let up hoping whatever pleading look on your face is enough to win him over because frankly after having your help denied earlier thanks to someone else being hopelessly stubborn, youâre not going to let yet another person risk their life because of some misguided machismo. Now, youâre going to be the stubborn one, but at least youâll be a little polite about it. Gently, you push, hoping your grip on his arm keeps him bleeding any more, âJust let me help you.â
Maybe it was you standing your ground or maybe the pleading look on your face did it, but eventually he relents albeit reluctantly, âFine.â He says finally, âDo you even know what youâre doing?â
âUhâŚNoâŚâ You answer a little meekly. Still, youâre determined to help and âCan you maybe tell me what to do? Since you already know, you could just tell me how. Iâm pretty good at following orders.âÂ
Jamil sighs, irked but he doesnât refuse you. Which is good because you can feel his blood slicking your hand.Â
And thatâs how your âhands-onâ lesson in stitching- yes, stitching, it was that bad and that deep -up wounds came to be. Was it deeply uncomfortable watching a complete stranger hiss from pain occasionally as you stitch him up like an amateur but at least his wound is clotting now. Small victories.Â
âCanât believe youâre doing this. We could have left the guy to do it himselfâŚâ And Grimâs complaining. Small losses, you suppose.
âYeah, Yeah. Shut it, Grim, Iâll make it up to you later.â You retort, returning your attention to your haphazard attempt suturing a wound closed and asking shyly, âHow am I doing?âÂ
Now that everythingâs calmer you can actually take in the stranger you strong-armed into letting you help him, and like pretty much everyone you had a pleasure- or displeasure more frequently- he is attractive. Long dark brown hair, steel grey eyes, and clearly the patience of a saint for even putting up with you, his blazerâs ribbon is Scarabia red just like Kalimâs. Now that youâre calmer, you canât help but think youâre supposed to know him.Â
But that doesnât really matter right now, as he inspects your handiwork carefully, as you stare at him expectantly. After a few long moments with you hanging onto the silence waiting for a positive answer, he finally answers, â Youâre doing fine enough.â The adequate praise makes you beam, at least no one will be dying today.Â
âI know I kind of jumped the gun earlier. Iâm sorry about that, I just-â Have some trauma over people getting injured because of your actions and desperately want to stop others from getting hurt? Want to protect people who seem to refuse it when you are just trying your best because youâre afraid of being the reason for harm. You smile amiable as you finish another row of stitches. âWant to be helpful? Iâm ________, by the way.âÂ
âI already know who you are, ________.â He says with an unreadable expression like he was discussing the weather and not saying something that sends your heart rate into the stratosphere.Â
â....What.â The smile drops instantly as you nearly fumble the needle in your now-shaking hands. You can feel your heart jump with the speed of a wild jack-rabbit. Youâre about 99% positive youâve never met this guy before. âH-How did youâŚâÂ
Probably because of the panic thatâs forming on your face. âRight, you still donât know who I am. The nameâs Jamil Viper, Iâm the Vice Dorm Head of Scarabia. IâmâŚâ He hesitates for a very long time before finishing, â...Kalimâs friend.â
âJamil, as in⌠Kalimâs best friend?â Albeit a lot more apathetic considering your now-gone panic but thatâs at least believable. You havenât met Jamil face to face before this, but knowing Kalim it makes sense he would tell Jamil about you. Thatâs not so bad, you suppose.Â
Jamil, again, hesitates for some reason, before answering. â...Yeah.âÂ
You donât know why heâs doing that, but this is not your monkeys and not your circus. And frankly, as far as youâre concerned, youâre not on the market for any more monkeys.Â
âAh. Well, thatâs a relief,â Considering how much Kalim talked about him whenever you two hung out, then it made a decent amount of sense that heâd know about you. As long as your situation doesnât turn out to be the worst kept secret at NRC, then thereâs nothing for you to worry about.Â
But you have to admit, compared to Kalimâs energetic eccentricity. Heâs a lot more⌠mellow. Itâs a little surprising that theyâre best friends, but hey you barely have a grasp of how relationships work here to begin with. âNo offense, but you donât seem like how Kalim describes you. Itâs differentâŚâ
You quickly realise how weird that sounds, âA-A good different! Not the weird different kind.â
Jamil raises an eyebrow, curiosity peaking. âWhat do you mean?â He asks.
âI kinda thought youâd be a lot like him.â You explain, turning your attention back to the work you were doing on his arm, âDon't get me wrong, I like Kalim a lot, heâs really sweet and all, heâs just a little too high energy to handle all the time. Itâs nice to know that he has someone more calm to balance him out.âÂ
âSorry if that seems weird, but I mean it as a good thing. I sure need more people like that in my life.â You say with a smile. If you were honest, you needed more calm people to hang out without risking your life. You could only hold out hope that saying that out loud wasnât causing a finger to curl on the monkeyâs paw.Â
You look up from your work, seeking some validation that your stitching wasnât mutilating his arm in the process, and canât help but notice a hint of a smile on his face. Itâs a nice smile, one that feels oddly comforting.
But his mood sours a second later. You can see it as it happens too, as that small smile turns into nothing tinged with an unknown emotion for an unknown reason. From this close you can see his brows furrow just slightly, despite the fact youâd just complimented him. Was something wrong?
âUmâŚâ You finish the last few stitches on his arm, feeling some awkwardness set in as quickly as the silence does, â It was nice to meet you, given our shared friendship with Kalim and all.â You say, trying to dissolve the awkwardness.Â
âRightâŚâ He says, apathetic. Maybe you said something wrong. Might as well not pry.Â
Oh wait, before you forget. âUh, if you mind me asking, what happened to your arm?â
Now that youâre thinking about it an injury like this would have to have been caused by someone attacking them or something self-inflicted because no one would just slice their arm open that deep for no reason. Considering everything youâd seen today, it would make sense for it to be whoever is sabotaging the other teams players.Â
âI was in the kitchen cooking, and the knife got away from me. Thatâs all.â
âHowâŚ?â That canât be what happened though, if he was right handed then it made no sense that heâd cut himself while holding the knife that did the stabbing. â...Is that even possible? No offense, but that canât be how that happened?â
âIt was just an accident, nothing you need to worry about.â Jamil doesnât clarify even further. Maybe itâs an attempt at getting away from you, something about what you said earlier killed his mood. Well, that and considering you kind of literally and metaphorically twisted his arm into doing this.Â
âOkay thenâŚâ You respond, choosing not to push on this any further as you tie off the gauze and finish treating his injury. âThere, all done.â
You watch him inspect your handiwork, the silence impeccably awkward as you stare holes into him as he does. Eventually he finally answers, âIt'll hold up fine. You did a good job, _________.â
You sigh in relief at least he wonât bleed to death because of you, thatâs a small win for today. Albeit, you probably said something that upset him earlier even if you were being massively pushy when you thought about it. That slight guilt pushes you to apologize, âSorry about kind of strong-arming you into it. I hope your arm heals quickly.â
âDonât worry about it. Itâs not your fault.â Jamil answers, assuaging some of your worries. âAnd thanks, ______.â
You beam. Despite the awkwardness from earlier, that wasnât so bad. So far two people youâve met from Scarabia seem to be pretty pleasant interacting with you so far. Thatâs gotta be a new record.Â
Now to get through the rest of the day. Hopefully, nothing goes wrong-Â
You gotta stop doing that.
With you out of sight, the pleasantness vanishes.
âOf all the people in the worldâŚâ He mutters under his breath, the genuine white-hot rage heâd fought to smother finally bubbling to the surface. âIt just had to be you, ______.â
Jamil had been sitting next to him, when he was told what finding his darling was supposed to be like. A rush of emotions that will make it feel like the rest of the world will just fall away, leaving just him and the darling he was meant for.Â
Heâd felt it when you complimented him, heâd felt it when you smiled at him.
It was something heâd long awaited to finally have something that was his own, something that he would never have to give up so Kalim could have it and continue living life without getting his âpreciousâ feelings hurt.Â
And now, like a miserable twist of fate, the one thing heâd waited to call his own. The darling he spent years awaiting, to cherish knowing that nothing and no one could take it away from him just so happened to be you, Kalimâs darling who he wouldnât stop rambling about.Â
Is this a twisted punishment for the quiet judgement heâd given you before he met you. Jamil would go back in time to slap himself and stop it if that would undo this.Â
Heâd only just managed to smother his rage, into that carefully crafted mask of indifference so he didnât snap right there and then. Rather not destroy your opinion of him immediately because of his desire to be free of that parasite.Â
Jamil clenches his fists, feeling the pain of the wound that had unknowingly brought you together helping bring him to reality. He takes a deep breath. Then another. Then five more and that does it. For now.
Like always, Jamil buries it. It wonât matter eventually, soon he will be able to have that parasite stuck to him for just a moment. Ironically, his plan will take care of two birds with one stone.Â
Jamil can be patient. Like a snake in the grass.Â
That NightâŚ.
You canât sleep.Â
One would think after hours of running up and down, investigating the SpellDrive âaccidentsâ, screwing around with the Savanaclaw students, meeting and helping Jamil earlier today and your consistent lack of sleep schedule, you would crash the second you hit your mattress. But no matter how much you tossed and turned, you just canât relax.
Sadly, tonight youâre the only one, as Grim is too busy owning a SpellDrive tournament in his dreams. âMm⌠Didja see that⌠Totally wrecked âem with that power shotâŚâHe mutters in his sleep, and you canât help but envy him a little bit, something was keeping you from sleeping, you just couldnât place what.
You sigh in resignation, nudging Grim off and slipping out from under the covers. Maybe some fresh air would help?
Normally, you wouldnât leave the safety of Ramshackle for just any reason at night but that feeling gnawing at your chest made you shove your trepidation aside. You just needed to get out and clear your head. Youâd be fine, five minutes couldnât hurt and itâs not like anyone would be here at this time of night, you think hoping that you arenât jinxing yourself.
So you left Ramshackle, just for a little walkâŚ
Just for a little while. Itâd be okayâŚ
Outside Ramshackle is peaceful in a way that feels weird. Itâs weird how the night can be so peaceful when you feel so restless. The leaves are being plucked from trees and besides the howl of the wind and chatter of cicadas, the world sounds so quiet. Even the stars feel too serene, twinkling as if the world below isnât so bizarre.Â
âWow, itâs gotten really coldâŚâ You murmur, shivering against the autumn breeze and hug your pajamas tighter around your body. It's hard to believe itâs winter will be here soon-Â
You freeze, the thought making your eyes water and a hard lump form in your throat.
Right now itâs October, youâve been away from your home universe for over a month and a half, and even despite all the horrible things you learned after that you were trying your damndest not to think about, your heart feels so heavy with homesickness.Â
You fight helplessly against your sorrow, but once that dam opened it wasnât closing anytime soon. You wonder about your home, the place you lived and the people you had seen. Did they know you were missing? Could they even fathom the kind of world youâd been sent too? Were they worried?
Would you even see anything from home again?
Your eyes burn as you fight the tears, âI wonder if- when Iâll be able to get homeâŚ.â Despite your immediate correction, you can feel that nagging voice of doubt worming its way into your thoughts.Â
What if you never got home?
So far all you learnt was evidence to the contrary, with everything you learnt from meeting Winston and Crowleyâs efforts, or lack there of, yielding no fruit. What if you were stuck here forever, and you were holding onto an impossible wish? What would your life be like?
A part of you doesnât want to imagine it, but sadly you do anyway.Â
No matter how much youâd like to, you canât forget the moments where the darker side of your friends really slipped through. The murderous rage that youâd seen on Aceâs and Deuceâs faces that chilled you to your bones, would they be like that if you completely rejected them or if someone showed interest in you in a more normal way? Or would they wear the casual smiles they usually did, Ace smirking mischievously or Deuce smiling gently as they did something downright deplorable in their pursuit of you, acting like their normal selves as you quaked with fear.Â
And it wasn't just them either.Â
Would Riddle being less strict mean nothing when it came to you, would he become as terrifying as the Queen of Hearts was to Winston, with you being terrified of breaking even the slightest rule to spare yourself punishment. Or would he continue trying to loosen up just for you, only to become the tyrant he used to be to keep others away from you, not just now but in the future if he went so far as to kidnap you.
You havenât forgotten Trey drugging all those times. Would he keep you drugged all weak and docile for the sake of keeping you safe forever until you died. Could he drug you with something worse? You donât even want to know what other horrible drugs could have been made for people like you, would Trey give those to you just so he could play house with you forever.
Cater was a lot harder to read his true intentions, what life would be if you took you and your love years from now, but you were more worried about the horror in your present. His clones terrified you in general. He would probably make escaping nigh impossible, let alone getting away from him before he had you. You didnât want to think of the terror youâd feel being hauled out of Ramshackle in the hands of his who knows how many clones.Â
And how could you forget Chenya. Could you be asleep in your bed one night and wake up in RSA with him done with playing the long game. Or is he just watching you right now with the intent to scoop you or worse observe your mental health decline long enough where youâll run to open arms no questions asked. You wish you had some sort of inkling,Â
Speaking of eccentrics, there was still Rook, considering he wanted to chase you for the rest of your life at the expense of your sanity and well being. You already felt like prey experiencing this nonsense, to feel like that forever would be a hellish curse.
What would they do to you, you donât even want to imagine. Would they break you till you loved them, till you were just like Winston broken into loving them for the sake of protecting your peace of mind? Would they do worse, all because they âloveâ you so much?
Would you ever be okay with it? Would you somehow accept this world as home, and see the love they gave you as normal one day if you stayed stuck here? You wish you knew what the future held, just for some peace of mind.Â
You hastily wipe the tears you feel burning in your eyes. With all thatâs happened and the fear still looming from all that could, you donât think youâd ever been more frightened, or more lonelyâŚ
âWhat Iâd give for someone to take this awful feeling away.â You mutter as you slump against one of the railings of Ramshackleâs busted porch only for something to catch your eye. âHuh?â
Something, or multiple somethings, sparkle as they float through the air. Your despair melts in confusion, stepping away from the remaining safety of Ramshackle to investigate. âItâs cold to be firefliesâŚâ You reason, catching one in the palm of your hand only to gasp as it makes contact with your skin.
Itâs a spark, as in fire, but it doesnât burn your skin or hurt in the slightest. Instead it gives you a comforting warmth that spreads through the rest of you. SomehowâŚ. that strange turmoil in your head and heart feels⌠goneâŚ
You feel strangely⌠at peace.
So at peace that when you hear the sound of footsteps, the sound of a stranger coming in your direction, your response isnât fear or apprehension but tranquil curiosity.
âHm? Whoâs that over there?â The voice of a stranger makes you turn to face him as if it alone left you spellbound. You let out a tiny gasp as you take in his appearance left equally stunned and bewitched.
There are a lot of words you could use to describe the âmanâ in front of you, but if you had to choose a single one, it would be ethereal. The stranger before you has to be the tallest man youâve met so far. The most notable feature has to be his horns, which are as dark as the night around you and gleam under the moonlight. He's beautiful too, like youâd imagine a fairy from a childhood story book.Â
Itâs almost like something out of fantasy, a thought that would normally make you spiral, someone seemingly normal and irrelevant as you meeting a tall, handsome supernatural being under the light of the moon.Â
Normally, if youâd felt like you did less than a minute ago, you would have been a ball of nerves and adrenaline at a complete stranger walking through your yard, but still you donât react that way. As if whatever you felt, magic or something else entirely, is keeping you serene, speechless and oddly curious.Â
Whoever youâve met seems to share your feeling in the latter, âWell, this is a surprise. A child of man, are you?â
Unwittingly, you donât respond, still fixated on the green yellow armband on his sleeve. Was he a Diasomnia member? Youâve only met three of its residents before, but youâre positive that it wasnât this one. Sparing another glance at his horns, youâre pretty sure you would remember meeting someone with horns like his.
âWho⌠are you?â You donât mean to sound as blunt as you did, but quite frankly youâre awestruck at such an imposing figure.
It seems that feeling is shared because as soon as those words leave your lips, the horned stranger looks just as stunned as you currently are. âWho am IâŚ? You truly donât know who I am?â He asks, as if genuinely shocked that you didnât know who he was.
Though, he does recover faster than you did, his confusion morphing into an amused smirk, âInteresting. May I have your name?âÂ
For some reason, that specific wording doesnât sit well with you, but it doesnât bother you enough to not answer. âMy name is ______. Iâm Ramshackleâs prefect.â
â______âŚâ He repeats with an odd interest in his voice as he tests it out. But that interest is weird in a way you canât place. Not like when you were still getting used to the weird way this world works, like when you met Cater for the first time, but strange. âAn unusual name, to be sure.âÂ
âI amâŚâ He pauses mid-sentence. Despite his surprise that you didnât know his name, he really seems hesitant to give it to you. You wonder why. âNo, nevermind. Iâd rather you remain unaware.â
That takes you by surprise for a second time. âHuh? Why?â
âItâs for your own benefit, I assure you.â While youâre about to disagree, once you think about it a little bit you realise itâs probably for the best. You fear the day where having friends wonât be a luxury you can have for fear of their safety, not yours. Â
He continues, his tone pleasant. âInstead I will permit you to call me a name of your choosing.â before turning to one of warning, âAlthough you may one day regret itâŚâÂ
You doubt that would be the case, while it got off to a âuniqueâ start, this was a pretty okay first impression. This guy is a little weird, but so is this school and honestly this whole world. If this guy was anything like this conversation, a little odd but otherwise pleasant, you donât yet see how this could end badly. Perhaps the reason why is that strangely soothing feeling still flowling through your veins, perhaps it is making your current judgement very cloudedâŚ
âBut alasâŚIf you have taken up residence here, then this abandoned dorm is no longer âabandonedâ. Pity.â He seems to think aloud, which is oddly surprising. Not to be vain or anything but it genuinely feels like a shock to not have a nightly encounter that has some bad implications on your future. âI shall have to find some other ruins for my next nocturnal constitutional. Farewell.âÂ
You mildly wave goodbye, expecting him to walk away only for him to vanish in a bright spark of light, taking with him the soft glow of fireflies. âHeâs goneâŚ?â You mutter, met with nothing but silence as youâre actually alone.Â
ThatâŚ
That⌠single-handedly might be the most normal and non-stressful conversation youâve had in a really long time. And the guy literally just teleported away. If anything, he seemed more upset with the fact the ruins he liked walking by at night were actually occupied rather than concerned with you. That is a surprisingly big relief that the stranger you happen to see outside your house isnât interested in you, something that feels very strange to think considering everything.
That strange cozy feeling you got still persists, having scared the chill from your bones, and now that the stranger is gone you canât help but feel a little sleepy. You let out a long yawn, feeling your eyes get heavy. You should probably go back inside and get some sleep.Â
You head back inside, stopping only to lock Ramshackleâs door when the thought hits you, for the first time since meeting that guy.Â
âWhy didnât I panic?â As much as you like the idea of normal interaction, normal interaction didn't find you that easily since coming here. If it had been anyone else, like a certain hunter, were to meet you after dark, you probably would have ran back inside and hid with Grim and a kitchen knife under your bed. But with that guy you just felt mystified, talking with him like it was nothing.Â
âWell to be fair, things could be a lot worse.â You donât want to focus on it any longer. If anything, all that worrisome thinking might shake the half-asleep feeling and youâll be exhausted tomorrow. Whatever he did, he helped you out a little bit and basically might be the reason you sleep tonight. With no reason to dwell on it further as you crawl back into bed, snuggling up to Grim. Unintentional or not, it was nice of that stranger to grant your wish. Â
Who knows, some people here might not be that dangerous after all.Â
So remember when you freaked out about being surrounded by wild, extremely carnivorous animals in your dream about two dreams ago?
âAHH!â Well, you kind of panicked and scrambled for the jagged stone walls forgetting you were invisible when you passed through the mirror. If anyone wants to blame you, they werenât the ones surrounded by A TON of hyenas. Youâre not taking any chances with a species that preferred to disembowel their prey alive.
Now hereâs a question, could a hyena-beastman do that- actually, you thought about it for two seconds more and youâre not continuing that train of thought. With your luck, it might become a reality.Â
Never minding that original thought again, you take in the scene before you. After all, the reason youâre here is because youâve got something you have to see.
<The world is about to be turned upside down. A shining era is near> Â Scar proclaims from his ledge high above.
<And where do we fit in?> Someone in the crowd yells.
<Just listen.>
<Weâre going to take out Mufasa AND his son.> The amount of contempt that Scar doesnât even bother to disguise for both Mufasa and Simba as he speaks sparks an idea in your head. If your memory serves you well, the reason Simba had to die in the original story was because he got in Scarâs way in the line of succession, but with how this world worked, something about his anger right now makes it feel like Simbaâs entire existence is more of a personal vendetta than a threat being taken care of. Maybe if youâre lucky, you could warn Sarabi about it soonâŚ. <And then I  will be KING!>
<All right! Long Live the King!> The badlands fill with the cackling of the hyenas, cheering over their plans of regicide. You can only hope that whoever the SpellDrive saboteur is, you can only hope that theyâre not going to go as far as murder over a silly game. But besides that, you donât really see how else this is going to affect your love life here as you watch the hyenas celebrate their future assassination attempt. Youâve got nothing better to do, but wait until your dream fizzles out into that static that marks your return to the waking world.
So you wait.Â
And wait.
âOkay, clearly not time to wake up yetâŚâ You mutter, scanning the walls for anything out of the ordinary. Was there something else you were meant to see?Â
Finding nothing, you spy your mirror embedded in the rock walls. Maybe something is broken and you have to take matters into your own hands?
Placing your hand onto the glass, it ripples around your hand before you feel yourself being pulled through it a second time tonight. Instinctively, you close your eyes as you hear the cackling of the hyenas morph into the soft noise of wind moving through tall grass. Opening your eyes, you find yourself back at Pride Rock and despite all the Grey, you can tell itâs daytime.Â
âThatâs weird.â You think aloud but shrug off. Since it might be the morning after, then you had sufficient time to warn Sarabi, whether she accepts it or not.
You look around the rock formation only to find it oddly void of lions and honestly a mess, the grasses have been torn up, scratches are carved into the stones, and itâs way too quiet for your nerves. You jump down from one of the rock ledges, finding a grotesque pile of animal bones just tossed around, mauled clean of flesh and even chewed.Â
âEww.â You step away from the grey dream-blood staining the ground as you feel your stomach turn, and keep searching for some sign of life anywhere on this rock. âSomething definitely happened here.â
While that realization fills you with dread, youâre immediately flooded with relief when you see a figure of bright yellow in a clearing amongst all the pale grey. You donât need to guess who it is, âSarabi!â You call out, running up to her.Â
But itâs only after you say that do you notice something is off. While you admit that her hostility last time was pretty justified, she doesnât become immediately alert of an unknown danger, ready to rip to pieces with claws or teeth. Instead she just stands there and looks a bit sad. âSarabi?âÂ
<Hello, ________.> She answers, her voice much too soft. <I wasnât expecting to see you again.>
âUm, me too⌠I guess.â Something about this feels so odd, but you need to at least say what you have to say before it's too late. âI know this might be a bad time⌠but you need to seriously consider the dangers here, Scar is planning to kill Mufasa and Simba. I know you are sure that nothing will happen to them, but I just want you to be prepared.â
<OhâŚ> Instead of reacting with shock or disbelief, thatâs all she says. Her eyes filled with what can only be grief as she continues, <Iâm afraid itâs too late for thatâŚ>
âWhat?â
<Come with me.> Sarabi leads you out of the clearing into a lower cavern, illuminated only by light slipping through cracks and what you see makes you immediately understand.Â
Walking through the mirror had passed time farther than you realized, because Mufasaâs dead body is lying on the stone floor, unmoving and unbreathing, as two lionesses place wildflowers around the corpse of their king. âOhâŚâ
<Mwamini, Abla. Leave us> Sarabi commands before sitting next to her dead husband. The two of them bow their heads respectfully before leaving.
As they walk past you, you can hear them say, <What does she mean by us? Itâs just her and the- >
<Donât. The two loved each other more than anything, let her grieve however she needs.>
Whether she heard it or not, Sarabi doesnât pay it any mind. You watch as she bumps heads lovingly for a long while, the pain of grief evident on her face. You sit next to her and for a few moments share that moment of mourning with her.Â
After a long time, you ask, âWhat happened?â A selfish question honestly, you already know exactly what happened that led to Mufasaâs demise, but for your own selfish self-preservation, you need to know if anything changed.Â
Sarabi remains silent for a few more tense seconds that feel like they last years, before answering, <He said that Simba was practicing his roar in the gorge. It frightened the wildebeests into a stampede andâŚtheyâŚ> Her voice cracks from what can only be heartache.
âYou donât have to say anything else.â You interrupt hoping to spare her any more despair, "I'm so sorry for your loss-â
<Spare me.> She pulls away from Mufasa, and stares you dead in the eye. <Iâve heard enough of that already. When we met a few days ago, you came to warn me about the future and while I didnât believe it before, I have reason to now. Scar was the one to tell us they were dead and how they died, and thanks to you I know not to believe a word he says so tell me, is Simba alive?>
âAre you completely positive you want me to tell you?â Normally, you wouldnât hesitate to do the right thing and give a grieving widow some hope, but after Winston and Alice⌠âBecause the last time I tried to help someone like this, I ended up completely wrong and the person I thought would live ended up dying horribly. I wouldnât want to give you false hope.â
<I donât care about that!> Desperation oozes from Sarabiâs words, as if hearing whatever you could say would soothe her pain, <I just need to know if thereâs a chance that my cub is okay.>
â...â As much as you donât want, as much as you donât want to risk the chance that the future is completely wrong, the very least you can do is this. â...Fine. Simba is alive, heâs with some other animals thatâll look after him.â Sarabi sighs in relief and some of her grief seems to disappear knowing that Simba is okay, but you can tell that all thatâs happened has shaken her a little. âJust know that I donât know for sure whether or not heâll come back safe and sound, the future I know doesnât exactly match everything that is going on now.âÂ
<RegardlessâŚ> Sarabi replies, looking forlornly at Mufasaâs remains, <Right now, itâs enough knowing heâs safe. Whether he comes back here or not, at least I havenât lost all of my family. At least I can still be hopeful for something.>
You canât help but find that strange.
Even despite the fact that sheâs literally sitting right next to the ice-cold remains of the lion she genuinely loved, you canât understand how she manages to even talk about hope. Youâd seen genuine anguish and sorrow on her face since you got here and her optimism even if sheâs trying to stay strong feels foreign to you. Especially since the situation itself, losing her mate, potentially never seeing her cub again and being left in a kingdom reigned by someone whoâs obsessed with her should feel so hopeless.
âHow do you even do that?â One of your thoughts slips out but once it does, like a bottle uncapped, it all comes pouring out, âI-I donât know how you deal with it. My life got turned upside down like yours did, and you seem to be more put-together than me.âÂ
Sarabi pulls away from Mufasa once more, her eyes widen with surprise, <Iâm surprised you think that.>
âIâm serious, too. How do you do it? How do you stay strong against all this⌠shit and be so calm?â By comparison youâve been struggling under the weight of hopelessness, and she seems strangely positive for a situation that is equally hopeless.Â
<IâŚ> Sarabi hesitates, but you can hear the hoarse sound of unshed tears in the back off her throat <Iâm not calm, but this isnât the first time Iâve gone through something like this.>Â
âWhat do you mean?â You ask, feeling a sudden pang of fear for your own imminent future.Â
<When I was younger, I lost the pack I was raised in, my family and my friends. All I had left was my aide, Zazu, and worse I was being followed by another pride that wanted to dispose of us both. I didnât have time to cry or hide, or even process just how sad and afraid I was of everything. The situation was always too dangerous and I was always too vulnerable.>Â
<By the time, it was over. I had met Mufasa, and fallen in love with him. Weâd found our new home here and started building a new pride. By then, I finally was able to cry and release all the pain Iâd been forced to bury, and I realised that if Iâd fallen apart like before hand I probably wouldnât have gotten where I was, safe, happy⌠newly in loveâŚ> Sarabi glances at Mufasa once more, gazing longing at whatâs left of him before sighing sadly as if remembering the sunnier days they spent together, before getting back on topic, <When I realised that, you could say I made a philosophy.>
âA philosophy?â
<A queen cannot cry till itâs over.> Sarabi explains, <No matter how pain or heart ache I experience, I wonât show any of it or let myself crumble underneath its weight, I have to grit and bear it till the end, regardless of how good or bad that ending is.>
âThat doesnât sound all that healthy.â To bottle up all that grief, anger, fear and pain couldnât possibly be something healthy to do, not in the slightest.Â
<Maybe. Maybe not.> She replies, <Either way, it worked.>
âAnd youâre sure youâll be able to keep this up?â You canât help but worry for her, sheâs worse off than when she started now. âEven if Simba manages to make it back, with Scar around youâll have to do that for a really long time. Especially since, he probably thinks he has you all to himself now.â
<Iâm not sure. And certainly doesnât help that Iâm still stumped that he still has feelings for me after all this time. Especially feelings that would push him to try to kill Mufasa and Simba over it.> Sarabi stands up, starting to pace as she loses herself to her thoughts. After a while, she looks at you again and asks <I never saw him as a romantic partner, not for any fault of his own back then, and Mufasa never did anything to sway my decision so do you know? Do you know what could have pushed him to act this way?>
Now thatâs something you want to know. âI wish I knew.â
Sarabi sighs, now frustrated. <This makes no sense.>
You canât help but sympathise, âThe way it looks, itâs not supposed to make senseâ
<I wish it did->
<My, myâŚ> Footsteps fill the lower cavern, along with the chilling snickering of the hyenas flanking Scar. Instinctively, you shrink back as Sarabi's face hardens into what can only be forced apathy as her husbandâs murderer approaches, a victorious smirk clear on his face. <Whatever has got you talking to a corpse, Sarabi?> Scar quips, sparing only an uninterested glance at his brotherâs, and his victimâs, body.
Sarabi, likely following her philosophy, doesnât show him any of her interest, <What are you doing here and why have you brought your hyenas to my husbandâs gravesite.>
<Tsk, tsk~ > Scar âchastisesâ her playfully. As he speaks, he moves in closer to which Sarabi immediately recoils away from her mateâs murderer. In spite of that, he continues, <Mind your temper, dear Sarabi. We are to get along with the hyenas, remember?>Â
<Yeah!> One of the hyenas that arrived with Scar pipes up, <Gotta be nice, your majesty- > Sarabi growls, loud enough to scare them into shutting up before they lose their throat.Â
Once the hyena wisely cowers in favor of not angering her further, Sarabi returns her attention to Scar. <Do not call me that, Scar. Why are you here?>Â
<I tire from all the work of ruling- >
<Odd, considering youâve barely done anythingâŚ> You can hear Sarabi mutter under her breath. Is the only thing he really cares about Sarabi then? If thatâs the case the throne he was âafterâ seems more like an added bonus.Â
<So Iâve come to pay my ârespectsâ and check up on my poor widowed sister-in-law. Though, I suppose youâre no longer my sister-in-law nowâŚ> You can see Sarabi wince from the reminder, <It must be difficult to move on from such a tragedy, both your husband and son gone from one foul swoop.>, and just how much Scar seems to enjoy the fact both of the two most important people in Sarabiâs life are gone, and no longer a bother to him.Â
<You should watch your own tongue, Scar.> Sarabi fires back, <And do not assume the worst for my son, and your future king. As long as his body remains undiscovered, there is a chance heâs still alive>
The hyenas start their cackling all over again, tickled into hysterics what they probably assume is Sarabi being stuck in denial. Scar glares them into silence this time, and from here, you can tell Sarabiâs words have upset him. <Surely you know that the kingâs murderer cannot become king- > Sarabi quietly scoffs in response to that, <And now that I think about, without Mufasa and with my ascension to the throne, you technically are no longer the Queen>Â
The hyenas cackle louder, and youâre impressed that Sarabi is putting up with this as her position is threatened. Instead she bluntly asks, <What is your point?>
Scarâs smirk returns, <Only a proposal, dear Sarabi. Become my Queen.>
What? Did he really just-
<No.> Sarabi bluntly declines, before the tension in her voice drops to that of a growl<And do not dare propose to me in front of my dead husband!> Itâs the only time sheâs raised her voice since this conversation between them has started. And for good fucking reason to literally propose in front of her mate, dead or alive, has to be a faux paus of some ordeal.Â
But despite that Scar continues, <Oh but Iâm serious. I hate to depose one of the most important members of the fallen kingâs pride, especially one Iâve always held affections for.>Â
As if spurred by your earlier conversation, you can see cracks in the stoic, disinterested mask Sarabiâs been wearing appear as Sarabi asks, <But why me? Itâs been so many, many years since Iâve been married, much less committed to Mufasa. Out of all the people, you could pick to rule as your queen, there must be someone else in the Pride who you might be more capable of being your mate and wife than I am.>
In a normal setting, albeit lions wouldnât be talking if this was a normal setting, he or anyone like him would understand, some small naive part of you hopes that he would understand and respect that. But what you actually expected is what you got, <Oh, Sarabi. Iâve always loved you for years down to the moment we met, if Mufasa hadnât intervened and ruined everything-!> Scar goes from growling as he vents his fury at his fallen brother only to pause and continue with only the threatening edge, <Now that he is gone, I will have all that I am owed, including you Sarabi. The one I loved ever since Iâve laid eyes on you. So will you be mine, Sarabi, like you were always meant to?>
âSo nothingâs differentâŚâ You find yourself muttering after watching this conversation like you had that SpellDrive smackdown earlier. One thing always remains the same so far, in both this âpastâ and in your present, and that is that what decides whether or not someone earns a stalker, a murder or both as a love interest is just instinct. There has to be something else to it, how else can you figure out how to avoid it?!
But what does that mean for Sarabi, you canât help but think, was this going to happen regardless of what she did? There had to be something, a way out or an argument that would break through whatever manic delusions brought this on what caused all this and why was it affecting you, Winston and her? âIs her only choice just to say yes and hope?â
You end up muttering that last part outloud, to which you curse at yourself for your foolishness. Only Sarabiâs ear twitches sensing that only she heard, but from what she says after a bout of hesitant silence, silence occasionally interrupted by the hyenaâs heckling, she says a very reluctant, <Fine.> grinded out through gritted teeth as she fights to keep her composure.
Much to Scarâs pride, if the grin on his face is anything to go by.Â
The hyenas do their cackling again, louder and more , as they witness the Lioness Queenâs submission. Sarabi does a better job at biting her tongue than you would have as she curtly dismisses herself with as much passive aggressive politeness as she can muster, <Youâll have to excuse me, Scar- >
<Please, Sarabi. Call me by name~ >
<Forgive me, Taka.> She corrects herself, her fangs grinding together from deep seated rage, <I shall need to hunt with the others so that we may feast over this âexcitingâ union.> Sarabi presses her head against Mufasaâs one last time before leaving, before glancing one last time past Scar back at you and giving you only one of the slightest nods, and pushing past those annoying, heckling hyenas back outside.Â
And Scar looks as satisfied as Grim does when he gets into the food without your permission, or rather the cat that ate the canary.Â
Once Sarabiâs gone, however, the smug, punchable satisfaction that reminds you eerily of Leonaâs dissolves completely. Just as one the hyenas, which you assume to be their leader asks, <Hey Scar, we are you so obsessed with making that stuck up b- > That swear dies on her tongue from the blood-curdling snarl that Scar lets out, as she scrambles to correct herself, <...uh, I mean the Ex-Queen queen again.>
<Yeah.> Â Another pipes up. <I mean, no offense but it looks like she kinda hates you, Right Ed?>. âEdâ doesnât really make any intelligible words, but the point is still made. If anything itâs a shock to you that anyone would call him out on this incredibly horrible thing to do someone you claim to love much less a grieving widow-
<ENOUGH!> Your thought process is interrupted by Scarâs booming roar, <This is none of your business. In fact if I recall correctly, arenât you yet to find that little runt?!>
You watch the hyenas stammer over pathetic lies and excuses, but Scar doesnât seem to believe them. If your memory served you well for once, Scar had accepted whatever they said about Simba being dead but unreachable. If this is happening, then it can only mean that something, and possibly the future along with it, has changed. And likely not for the better. Something about Scarâs hatred of Simba this time seems more⌠extreme.Â
<Uh, d-donât worry about it boss! Weâll find that brat.>
<Hurry up. The sooner you find that runtâs remains, the sooner she will finally be mine> Scar commands, <Just as she was meant to be>Â
Scarâs attention suddenly shifts to the remains of the dead Mufasa, the wildflowers gathered around them now seem more like the dressings of a feast.Â
Scar looks over at Mufasaâs remains before chuckling, <Look at my dear brother, after taking so much from me, the throne I deserved, my kingdom and my queen, you lie here dead like a feast fit for a king>
A cruel smirk forms on his face. <Get rid of him.>Â
You feel your dream fade to nothing just seconds after, but the sound and visage of hyenas sinking their jaws into the dead king's flesh and dragging him off to devour the cold remains sticks in your mind as you return to the waking worldâŚ
You wake up with a small gasp, the familiar feeling of Grimâs best sleep kicks digging into your ribs. For a few seconds, you lie there and try to process what youâd just seen.Â
But you donât focus on the corpse desecration still fresh in your head even if it stays there longer than you want, or the little you learned on yanderes, or the sheer hatred Scar seemed to have for his poor nephew; you remember what Sarabi had said to you.Â
âMaybe Sarabiâs philosophy might help me out?â You think aloud, staring at the mirror hanging on your wall. If it gave her the ability to stick through the hardest bits without fear, despair or anger, maybe it could do the same for you. If thereâs one thing you needed to do, it was not to be freaking over at the slightest thing.
Maybe it would helpâŚ.
âHey, _______?âÂ
âHm? Whatâs up Grim?â You ask as the two of you walk down Main Street, his question snapping you out of your dream-related thoughts.
âDid you go somewhere last night? I got up to warm up some milk. I was gonna see if you wanted some but you werenât there?â
âAww, that was nice of you,â You coo before laughing at Grimâs resulting embarrassment and complaints. Itâs nice seeing him care about you, in a completely normal way might you add. âI went on a walk to clear my head, but come to think about itâŚ. I met someone in our yard.âÂ
âAgh! Again?! Did that guy you were complaining about come by our house again?â Grim asks, exasperated. Youâd told him about Rookâs random late night âvisitsâ, Grim has even told you heâs 99% positive heâs seen him inside when getting a midnight snack. It creeps him out just as much as it creeps you out.Â
 âNo, it was someone else.â You recount the whole encounter to Grim, but you do leave out that weird soothing feeling youâd felt in âthe strangerâsâ presence. For all you know itâs fatigue catching up to you and not anything worth sharing.Â
âHuh. A weird dude with horns? Did the guy have a name?â
âHe said I was better off not knowingâŚâ You hope you hadnât accidentally walked yourself into meeting a really bad guy, especially knowing your terrible luck. Though, he seemed nice enough. âI guess I could come up with a nickname.â
âOoh! Let me pick it! HowsaboutâŚâ Grim hesitates for a moment to build some suspense, â âTsunotaroâ!âÂ
âŚAs in âHorned.. ManâŚ.?â
âTsunotaro..?â You test it out, and honestly it is a little silly and kind of cute, but he- Tsunotaro said he wasnât going to be coming back now that Ramshackle was occupied. Aw well, thereâs no harm in calling him a silly little nickname. âI guess that works.â
âIf Tsunotaroâs a student, who knows when we run into him? If we do, you gotta introduce me.âÂ
âJust please donât call him âTsunotaroâ to his face if you do. Weâre not exactly the most popular people on campus.â Well, you are but not by any fault of your own. Seriously, who expects to travel to another universe where magic exists and get, what the count again, 7 yanderes in a month? âAt least thereâs one thing this investigation is doing, it's making us accidentally encounter and potentially piss off every one we meet.â
â______! Grimmy!â Speaking of your current popularity... âMorning!â
âHey, Cater -Um?!â You go from starting to greet Cater and Riddle, only for your heart to starting jumping like a rabid jackrabbit as Riddle approaches much more than you were expecting. âHey Riddle- Is something wrong?â
âHm. I believe that your tie is crooked?â
What does that have to do with being so close to you right now? âHuh? Is it?â
âHere, allow me>â Instinctively you freeze, allowing Riddle to fix your tie without interruption. If it wasnât for you freezing you probably would have flinched from the feeling of his bare, doesnât he usually wear gloves though?, fingers on your neck. Given Riddleâs love of the rules, in a normal situation you would have assumed this is just a kind gesture, but something about the rare stutters in his speech of the importance of proper attire make you wonder if your tie was even crooked in the first place.Â
And despite your best efforts, the trauma of that night is a raw bleeding wound on your psyche that sends your mind to that warped dark place that makes this, something that should feel so simple, feel so stressful.Â
But you remember what youâd heard from Sarabi in your dream, âA queen cannot cry till itâs over.â as in suck it up and deal with it until you can scream out your frustrations into your pillow later. So you force yourself to breathe as steadily as possible and as Riddle finishes straightening your tie. âThere. All better.â
And then you screwed up. Maybe it was the awkwardness of making eye contact with Riddle once heâd finished, the awkwardness of him not backing up despite him being done or something else, but after an awkwardness makes you flinch and trigger your stupid fight or flight instinct and reach out to push him away from you.Â
âShit, play it off!â You imagine yourself taking a deep breath for courage as you swallow that lump of panic wedged in your throat, you take both his hands into yours, let as warm of a smile as you can muster cross your face and say, âThank you, Riddle. I really appreciate it!âÂ
You donât how âgenuinelyâ happy the smile you gave looked but it seemed to do the job., as you watch a soft flush appear on Riddleâs face. âI-It was no trouble.â
Much to your eternal gratitude, because how would you survive without him, Grim switches the topic, âSo whereâs Ace and Deuce?â
âADeucey are on flamingo duty.â You bury a tiny yelp when you hear Caterâs voice behind, startling close behind you but you can bear it a little longer. Still for someone so loud and hard to miss, itâs surprising that he can sneak around so quietly. âThey had some FOMO, but hey rules are rules.âÂ
Ok, you might be a little dumb sometimes but youâre not dumb enough to believe that. Knowing Ace and Deuce they would have wrapped it up and ran all the way to meet you at Ramshackle without you even noticing they were late. Something tells you that someone is keeping them held up on purpose. You also try not to think about the human that might be mixed into those feed pellets, you still havenât told Grim about that yet.
âItâs as Cater said, in accordance with rule 249, itâs their turn to wear pink clothes and feed the flamingos.â Knowing that every rule the Queen of Hearts made was made with Winston in mind, as depressing as his situation was, itâs a little nice. Maybe Winston had never seen flamingos in person before Wonderland and thought dressing up as them would make them like him. Kind of sweet to think about, yâknow if you ignore all the crap that came after.Â
âHey, no offense, Riddle⌠but why would you assign that to them? Like, aren't they really sore after the butt kicking Savanaclaw gave our investigation team yesterday?â You know for a fact those flamingos can get pretty cranky too, and not âannoyedâ cranky, like âscratching and plucking your eyes outâ cranky. Which better not be a result of the human in their diets, youâd probably never go near them again
âChores have to be done regardless, ______. Rules are still rules, after all.â Riddle answers, which would have been a decent enough answer if he hadnât continued. âThough, it would be unfortunate if something were to happen.â He finishes, sounding a little too satisfied talking about your friends potentially losing an eye.Â
Oh. Oh. he did it on purpose. Could that have been him getting back at them for being able to go with you yesterday or just plain old jealousy with an added touch of bloodthirst. Maybe you should start considering-
âThough speaking of something unfortunate happening, thereâs been another incident last night, _______?â
âMyah!? Really!?â
âAnother?!â Wasnât the tournament literally next week? Whoever was doing all this really wanted to wipe out as many playing members as fast as possible. Even if the players could recover enough to play, they wouldnât be able to play to their fullest, at that rate. âWhat happened?â
âAccording to the portrait who witnessed it, the victim was a sophomore from Scarabia.â Cater explains, âHis name is Jamil Viper, It appears the accident happened in the kitchen.â
âWait, Jamil Viper? I met that guy yesterday. Probably right after he got attacked- Hang on, I patched and he didnât even tell me about his accident?!â Whether it was manly misguided machismo or something else, you canât help but be annoyed knowing you could have cracked this case wide open yesterday and saved yourself all the extra work. You still canât make heads or tails over why he didnât tell you what really happened when you asked yesterday.
Youâre so distracted on the why, that you canât even notice the slowly darkening look both Cater and Riddle are getting from your unintentional confession of patching up someone elseâs wounds
âWe coulda solved this case yesterday!â Grim joins you in your exasperation,â And then we would have caught whoeverâs behind it and I could play in the tournament!â You roll your eyes and sigh. Never change, Grim.Â
But back on topic, it should be breakfast time in the cafeteria now and you were planning on checking up on him, anyways. Might as well go and demand an answerâŚ
And demand is exactly what you did.Â
âHey, Jamil!â You call out as soon as you get into the cafeteria, marching straight up to the table with the only two people from Scarabia you know. âOh. One sec. Hi, Kalim, nice to see you again.â You wave politely at your friend before recentering your focus back on Jamil before he can greet you back. âJamil, why didnât you tell me you were in a suspicious accident?!â
âItâs great to see you too, ______!â Kalim exclaims before you can get your answers out of Jamil. Youâre used to his sunny, energetic nature by now but seeing it side by side with Jamilâs more aloof composure. Again, another reason leaving you wondering how theyâre best friends but you suppose thatâs not your business. âBut, ________,when did you meet Jamil?
Oh right, Kalim had planned to invite you to Sarabia to meet Jamil once heâd been less busy after the tournament-
âThatâs something I would like to know.â Riddle interjects. You kind of forgot he and Cater were with you.
âI met him a couple weeks back because Grim decided to be a food thief,â You explain, âBesides Iâm not around you guys all the time, I have other friends.âÂ
âRight.â Riddle answers, sounding ever so slightly like he has an issue with that. You tell yourself not to pay attention to it, youâll worry about it in the privacy of your room later.Â
âFYI, _______. Itâd be a little nice to update us on these kinds of things.â Cater âsuggestsâ, âFriends tell each other things, yeah?â
Wait, what does that m- âAnd Jamil when did you meet ________? You never told meâŚâ
âWe only met last night in passing, I was so busy with SpellDrive preparations I forgot to tell you.â That isnât completely what happened, he kind of left out the whole âyou helping him patch his arm back up. You wonder why but it might have helped you out a little bit so who cares.Â
âAw, thatâs too bad.â The tiny deflating in Kalimâs mood is gone a second later, âOh. I know! We can all hang out once this tournament business is dealt with!âÂ
Oh. That's right. The tournament and the mysterious accidents.Â
âDo we have to? I don't wanna have ta eat that moldy cheese again,â Grim mutters, but youâre all getting side-tracked on the wrong details. No harm will come from hanging out with Kalim and Jamil at Scarabia later but some will happen if you donât figure out whoâs causing all these accidents by next week.Â
âUh, right back on topic.â You say, getting back to the issue at hand, âCan you tell me what really happened to your arm, Jamil.âÂ
âWhy are you so interested in my accident?â
âThe headmaster asked Grim and I to investigate all the strange accidents that have been happening on campus. I know I was kind of pushy before but if you didnât mind?â
You can see Jamilâs face falter just slightly, almost like he was disappointed that was the actual reason you were interested. â...The headmage? Huh, well okay.â
âItâs like I said yesterday, I was cooking in the cafeteria kitchen cooking some lamb rolls at Kalimâs request-â
âOh man, you guys have NO idea how amazing Jamilâs lamb rolls are.â Kalim interrupts, âYouâve gotta try âem some day.âÂ
âHey, uh, Kalim? I kind of need to hear this.â
âWhoops, my bad.â
âAnyway.â Jamil continues, âBut when I was chopping the ingredients, I felt an unnatural force take control of my body and the next thing I knew Iâd sliced my arm open.â
âAn unnatural force?â You repeat, if what you remember is correct, itâs just as the other cases described, like their body was taken over. The very thought makes you shudder. You ask him, âAre you sure?âÂ
âIâm positive. I know that sensation, I think it was the effects of someoneâs signature spell.â You gasp in surprise but that actually makes perfect sense, how else could someone get away with âinjuringâ so many students without leaving a mark on someone or getting caught. If someone was using magic, much less their signature spell, they could get away with it over and over again without raising any suspicion.Â
âOh yeah! Jamil would know, his signature spell is- MMPH!â Jamil claps a hand over Kalimâs mouth, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence.Â
âThis isnât about me.â Jamil says, before turning his attention back to you, âAnyway, whoever youâll be looking for probably is using a spell to control someoneâs movements.â
âInteresting,â says Cater, âThat would be a way to hurt people and have it appear like it was nothing more than the victim being careless.â
âAnd if it only lasted an instant, even the victim would perceive it as their own mistakeâ agrees Riddle, âWhen I nearly fell down the stairs, I never felt as though I was being controlled by someone else.â
âWell, now we know what is causing these accidents, now we need to find who?â You sigh in frustration, there have to be dozens of students capable of doing a spell like that, sure there are only three dorms left that havenât been attacked yet but thatâs still a lot of people. You donât even know where to start-
âHmm? A spell that can control peopleâŚMan, if I could learn a spell like that, I could really clean up on Bakery Day!âÂ
âIs all you think about food, Grim-â, youâre about to lecture him for getting distracted when it connects. Despite Grim never being one to give up his food, he still âwillinglyâ gave his deluxe sandwich to Ruggie. Looking back on it, Grim had moved like he was⌠being controlled byâŚ
You gasp, â I know who it is! The culpritâs Ruggie Bucchi!â
Itâs been about six months since I last posted anything due to an unexpected and unannounced hiatus Iâve taken. Do not worry, I am okay and getting back into my swing of updating and responding to asks.Â
Iâm sorry if I worried anyone. I havenât abandoned the yandereverse. The next part will be posted today.Â
But Iâll be posting new parts either once a month or once every two months, mostly because these take forever to write and edit.Â
Thank you for sticking with me and all the messages Iâve gotten out of concern, they really mean a lot to me. I can't wait to get back to adding to the yandereverse
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
What if a pick me existed in this universe? Iâm curious
Considering everything, there has to be a few.Â
The world is huge, even if yanderes outnumber darlings there has to be a very large number of yanderes being at least a few towns or countries away from their darlings.Â
One thing to note, most darlings are âwillingâ. For better or worse depending on whoâs asking, most darlings are so used to the way their society works that they donât question it. It may not be the best situation but itâs their situation so they make the best out of it. Reluctant darlings are the second largest group with unwilling darlings being more rare.Â
So, of course some darlings are desperate to meet their yanderes and havenât yet. These darlings see the reluctant darlings or the unwilling yanderes criticise the way their courting system works and the woes of it affecting their life when they havenât even interacted with their yandere yet makes them so jealous.
Why isnât it them, they wonder. They wouldnât complain, itâs all theyâve wanted and waited for so clearly those unwilling darlings are ungrateful. Their yanderes were just doing their best, and clearly deserve better than the darling they are putting up with. Because if they were with their yanderes, they wouldnât complain about âwhateverâ is done to them.Â
You get the picture.Â
Theyâre more common in Pro-Darling Rights Areas, since then the unwilling darlings are more protected than all the ones in the Anti-Darling Right Areas. Theyâre more loud to voice how their yandere could do anything to them and they wouldnât even complain, even to the things that are basically illegal, like being maimed so their yandere never has to be jealous because they were just âworriedâ for them.Â
Like how pick meâs are treated in our world, darlings, willing or otherwise, donât like them for obvious reasons. Even the willing ones are able to admit that just because theyâre fine with it, doesnât mean that the others will be. Yanderes at best would use them as spokespeople for why yanderes would do certain things but wonât really do anything to help the pick me get picked.Â
As it goes, pick-meâs are never picked and that kind of remains true. Unless their yandere comes out of the woodwork ready to find, claim and love them, they mostly are going to go without their yandere. But that wonât stop them from being a royal pain to the darlings who really donât need one of them soapâboxing about removing the few laws actually protecting them.